A Past Long Forgotten
by RogueRavenclaw99
Summary: Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: humans and monsters. One day, war broke out between the two tribes. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. Ever since then, every human has been told that those who climb the mountain will surely die. But is that necessarily true?
1. Excitement

**Guess who's joining an old Fandom! So, I don't really own a good PC for gaming, but my friend does, and she introduced me to the game **_**Undertale. **_**I loved the game quite a bit and saw some really cute stories online and I wanted to try my hand at writing one of my own! Enjoy!**

* * *

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: humans and monsters. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

Many years later…

* * *

King Asgore smiled as he entered his home and the smell of butterscotch cinnamon pie filled the air. "Something smells delicious," he said as he entered the kitchen. He saw his queen, Toriel, standing over the stove, using her fire magic. She was humming something to herself as Asgore snuck up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

Toriel let out a slight yell of shock as Asgore hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek. "Hello there my love," he said as he kissed her once more.

Toriel giggled at him and said, "Hello to you as well," she said as she stopped her fire magic. "The pie needs a little while to cool off before we eat it. How was your day?"

"It was quite uneventful. Nothing much happened. And how are you two doing?"

As he asked this, Asgore ran a paw over Toriel's swollen stomach and she smiled at him. "We are both doing fine," she said. "I cannot wait for our little one to arrive."

Asgore then flinched back as he felt something hit him from Toriel's stomach. "I felt a kick!" he exclaimed.

Toriel giggled at her husband and said, "Yes, they tend to do that quite a bit."

Asgore let out a hearty laugh and said, "I love you so much my dearest."

Toriel smiled and said, "And I, you."

* * *

"Psst, Gorey, wake up."

Asgore grumbled slightly as he felt someone shake his arm. He opened his eyes and saw Toriel looking at him, her eyes filled with enthusiasm.

"Mmm? What is it, dear?" Asgore then noticed his wife was holding a video camera and asked, "...err, and why do you have that video camera?"

"Shush! I want to get your reaction."

Asgore shook his head at his wife, chuckling slightly. Toriel continued and said, "Gorey, dearest. What is my favorite vegetable?"

Asgore thought about the question and said, "Hmmm...Carrots, right?"

"No no no! My _favorite_ vegetable is...Eda-_Mom_-e."

Asgore didn't respond and Toriel asked, "...get it?"

"...Go back to bed dear."

Toriel giggled and said, "No no! Not yet!" She giggled again and asked, "No, if I were a dog, what breed of dog would I be?"

"Hmmm...I don't know honey. What kind of dog would you be?"

"I would be...A _Mom_eranian."

Toriel giggled again and Asgore laughed with her. "You sure are excited to have this child. You know, if you keep making jokes like this...One day, you could be...a famous _Mom_edian."

Toriel didn't respond immediately and eventually said, "Well, I am going to bed."

"Hey! Come on, Tori! That one was funny!"

Toriel laughed and said, "I know. I am just teasing you."

She ran her claws lightly through Asgore's beard and smiled at him. "Goodnight dear."

Asgore yawned and said, "Goodnight honey."

Toriel then looked at the camera and said, "Oh dear, perhaps it is too dark in here for the video to come out…"

She then turned it off and placed it on the nightstand. She then laid back down in bed, her back snuggled against Asgore's stomach. He wrapped an arm around her and yawned. "I love you Tori," he said as Toriel snuggled closer to him.

"I love you too Gorey."

* * *

The next day, Toriel walked outside with a tray of lemonade. She knew where to find her husband as she went down to their garden. She enough, her husband was on his paws and knees with a trowel in his hand, standing over the patches of dirt. "Hello there dear," she said.

Asgore turned around and said, "Hello there Tori."

"I brought you some lemonade."

"Thank you! It's a lot of work out here planting these seeds, but I want our garden to look beautiful so our child can have a place to play in."

As Asgore reached for the tray of lemonade, Toriel let out a yell and dropped the tray. The glasses fell to the ground, shattering as the tray fell next to them. "Tori, are you alright?!" Asgore exclaimed, concerned.

Toriel gripped her stomach and nodded, smiling as tears came to her eyes. "Dear, it's time," she said. "The baby's coming."

* * *

**So this is officially my first fanfiction that isn't related to **_**Gears of War.**_ **It feels a bit weird writing something that isn't **_**Gears**_ **themed, but, if I'm being honest, I've exhausted myself on **_**Gears of War.**_ **For the foreseeable future, I'm sorry to say that I am done writing stuff for **_**Gears of War**_**. It was fun while it lasted, but, at least for the time being, I think I'm done. I will still publish this story, along with many others for different fandom, but I'm sorry to say that the **_**Gears of War**_ **era of my account is coming to a close.**


	2. Crybaby

A few weeks later, Toriel and Asgore were both suddenly woken up by a loud crying. Asgore rolled over to face Toriel and said, "Your turn Tori."

"I know, I know," Toriel said as she got out of bed. She walked down the hallway and opened one of the bedroom doors. She walked in to the nursery she and Asgore had built and walked up to the crib. In the crib was a baby goat-like monster in a green footed onesie with yellow stripes.

Toriel picked up the baby and made light shushing sounds as she rocked him gently. "Shh, it's alright Asriel, you're alright," she whispered to the baby. "Mother's here now. No need for tears."

One thing that Asgore and Toriel had both noticed about their son was how incredibly sensitive he was. The slightest thing would make him start crying, and it would take quite a bit of time to calm him down. As a result, neither parents had gotten much sleep recently.

Asriel continued to cry in his mother's arms, even kicking his legs. "Shh, you're okay Asriel," Toriel hushed. "What's wrong, hmm?"

Toriel considered the things that could be making her son upset. "Perhaps you are hungry," she said, walking with her son to the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of milk out of the fridge and warmed it with her fire magic. She tested the heat on her wrist and gave it to the boy, who immediately started to drink.

"There we go, all better now?" she asked as Asriel continued to drink. She carried him to the living room and sat in her comfy sitting chair and hummed a melody to him.

Once Asriel was done with his bottle, the baby boy started to cry again and Toriel sighed slightly. She then had an idea and carried him to the nursery. She sat in the rocking chair and started to rock it as she changed how she held Asriel.

She held her son in one arm and used her free hand to grab a music box off the mantle. She wound the box and a simple lullaby tune played through it. The tune had its desired effect as Asriel slowly stopped crying and let out a yawn.

Toriel smiled at her son as he snuggled into her arm and closed his eyes, falling asleep. She gently placed him in his crib and walked out of the room as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake him.

Once Toriel went back to hers and Asgore's bedroom, she laid down next to her husband and sighed slightly. Asgore let out a snore and Toriel giggled a bit at him as she snuggled up next to him and fell asleep as well.

* * *

"Are you absolutely positive you have to go?" Asgore asked.

Toriel sighed at her husband and said, "Yes Gorey, I am. We need food, so I am going into town to get some. I haven't been to town since Asriel was born a month ago. I won't be too long, but I have a few other errands I need to run as well."

"But why can't you take Asriel with you?"

"My errands are incredibly tedious and I don't need him making a fuss because I am taking too long. While that may be selfish, it will also benefit you. He is your son as well, Asgore. You need to spend more time with him."

"But he prefers you!"

"Oh nonsense."

"Tori, it takes you barely any time at all to calm him down when he starts crying. It takes me at least an hour. All you need to do is walk into the room and he calms down!"

"Gorey, I won't be long. You two will be fine together. Trust me."

Asgore let out a sigh, knowing he wasn't going to win this argument, and relented, "Very well then."

Toriel kissed him on the cheek and said, "I love you very much."

"And I love you too my wife."

"Now, Asriel is currently sleeping in his crib, but he should wake up soon. He'll probably be hungry, so just heat up a bottle from the fridge. He'll also need another nap in about four hours. I should be home by then, but if I'm not, then just put him down for his nap. Got that?"

"I believe so."

"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call me. I'll be back soon."

* * *

After Toriel left, Asgore went to the living room and looked through the books they had on the shelves. He saw a favorite of his wife's, _72 Uses for Snails_, and took it off the shelf.

As he began to read, he heard an all too familiar crying echo through the house. "Here we go," he said, putting down the book. The goat monster walked to the nursery and saw Asriel crying in his crib.

"Don't worry son, your father's here," Asgore said, picking up the baby. Asriel looked up at the person holding him and continued to cry, making Asgore sigh.

"I know you wish I was your mother, but she's not here right now." These words made Asriel cry louder, and Asgore started to panic. "But don't worry!" he said, panic evident in his voice. "You and I will have a grand time together! Isn't that right?"

Asriel continued wailing and Asgore started to think of ways to calm his son. "Hmmm, Tori said you'd be hungry. Why don't we both get something to eat?"

Asgore walked with Asriel in his arms to the kitchen, bouncing the baby gently in an attempt to soothe him. Once they reached the kitchen, Asgore pulled out a snail pie that Toriel had made. He placed it on the counter before grabbing a bottle of milk.

Asgore heated the bottle with his flame magic and changed how he was holding Asriel. The baby was so small that he could fit in one of Asgore's arms, and the king could still feed him with the hand he was holding him with.

Asgore sighed with relief as Asriel stopped crying to drink his bottle. Asgore then used his free hand to cut himself a slice of snail pie and heat it with his fire magic. Once the pie was heated, Asgore went to the dining room table and sat down, feeding his son with one hand and himself with the other.

He was about halfway through his slice of pie when Asriel started to cry again, pulling away from the bottle. "All done?" Asgore asked, standing up. He held Asriel so the baby's head was over his shoulder and bounced him lightly.

"Shh, it's okay," Asgore shushed. "No need for tears. What's wrong, hmm?"

Asriel then coughed and Asgore felt something wet fall onto his purple cape and golden pauldrons. The father quickly held his son away from the wetness and asked, "All done now?"

Asriel responded by spitting up again, this time hitting Asgore square in the chest. "Great," Asgore mumbled to himself, disgusted.

Asriel looked at his father and saw the look of disgust on his face. This caused the baby distress as tears formed in his eyes and he let out a whine.

"Oh, no no no," Asgore said quickly. "It's alright. Daddy's fine now. I can just change out of this. Please don't cry."

Asriel ignored his father's plea and started wailing loudly, making Asgore wince. "Hey, you're okay," Asgore said. "Daddy's sorry he made that face. Please don't cry."

Asriel continued to cry and Asgore panicked. "Please stop crying," he begged.

* * *

Several hours later and Asgore was exhausted. No matter what he tried, Asriel kept crying. Nothing seemed to be able to calm the baby down.

Asgore had changed into a new set of robes a couple hours ago and was absolutely out of ideas on how to calm his son. He had already fed the boy, checked his diaper, offered him a toy, even made silly faces.

"Asriel, please stop," Asgore begged. The baby's voice has become almost hoarse by this point, and Asgore just wanted his son to quiet down.

As Asgore continued to walk with his son around the house, he heard his phone ringing. The goat monster went to grab it and froze when he saw it was Toriel. Luckily, he was in the nursery, so he set Asriel down in the crib. This caused the baby to cry even louder, and Asgore said, "I'll be right back Asriel."

Asgore went into the kitchen and answered his phone. "Hello?" he asked.

"Gorey, it's me," Toriel said over the phone. "How is everything going?"

"Everything is going wonderful," Asgore lied through his teeth.

"Asriel isn't giving you too much trouble?"

"No, he's been an absolute angel this entire time."

"That's good. I will be home soon, alright? He's sleeping, right?"

"I just put him down."

There was then a loud wail that went through the house and Toriel asked in a panic, "What was that?!"

"Um, I stubbed my toe."

"Asgore, I'll be home soon."

Toriel then hung up the phone and Asgore groaned to himself. He went back to the nursery and saw Asriel still crying, his fur stained with tears.

Asgore sighed to himself and looked at his son. "Asriel, please stop crying," he begged. "Your mother will be home soon." He walked up to the crib and picked up a small bunny toy and waved it in front of the baby's face.

Asriel lowered his volume a bit and Asgore's eyes widened. He continued to hold the bunny and bent close to his son." Shh, Shh, Shh, there there," he said gently. "Be quiet."

He put his two large paws together and leaned his head against them. "Go to sleep," he whispered as Asriel continued to lightly whine.

Asgore spun the mobile hanging over Asriel lightly and said, "Stop crying my son. You've got a lot to look forward to, you know? A normal monster life stuck here in the Underground. Cold and damp, no real sunlight, no hope of leaving. Save the tears for later boyyo."

Asriel continued to cry lightly and Asgore rubbed his own face with his paw." I'm sorry about that," he apologized. "It was crabby. It's because I'm old. I'm so old Asriel. I don't know why your mother sticks around an old goat like me."

Asgore chuckled to himself over that joke and saw that Asriel had stopped crying. The baby was now instead staring up at his father, his eyes wide.

"But you, my son, you are so young," Asgore said as he picked up his son. Asriel cooed at being picked up and Asgore smiled at him.

"You know, right now, everything's ahead of you. You could be anything. You could walk among the stars if you wanted to."

Asgore thought about the glow worms in Waterfall meant to emulate the night sky and sighed. "The stars don't actually look like what you think they do. They look so much more beautiful. I hope that someday you get to see them. A night sky full of stars. A bright sunny day. A rainbow going across the sky.

"It's so beautiful on the surface my son. I know you would love it. I promise you, I will do everything in my power to make it so that you, along with every other monster down here, will see the surface again. I promise."

Asriel let out a small yawn in his father's arms and closed his eyes, falling asleep. Asgore smiled at his son and gently kissed him on the forehead before putting him back in the crib.

The goat monster quietly turned off the light and closed the door to the nursery as he heard the door to the house open.

"Hello?" Toriel called from the door. Asgore rushed up to her with a finger against his mouth and Toriel nodded. She gave her husband a hug and whispered, "How did everything go?"

Asgore smiled at her and gently kissed her cheek as he helped her carry in the groceries.

"It went well."

**Yes, part of Asgore's talk with Asriel is from **_**Doctor Who. **_**Sue me, okay? I love that scene so much and couldn't resist adding it somewhere. **


	3. Fallen Child

As the years went by, the Royal family continued their happy lives. Toriel and Asgore loved their son very much, and Asriel loved his parents.

One day, when Asriel was nine years old, he went outside to explore the Ruins. His parents had taught him about all of the puzzles and how to get around them, but Toriel was always wary of her son exploring too much.

Asriel knew he would most likely get into trouble for exploring. He and his family had started packing recently to relocate the capital of the Underground. They currently lived in a place called Home, and were moving to New Home, along with several other monsters.

As Asriel continued to explore, he eventually reached the very edge of the Ruins. He looked around and up at the small hole in the mountain. This hole, in theory, was a way out of the Underground and back to the surface. The only issue was that it was so high up that it would be impossible to climb up to it and escape.

The only real escape from the Underground was the Barrier, placed by the humans. Only a human soul, combined with a monster soul, could break through the Barrier. The Barrier was part of the reason they were even moving. Asgore thought it would be here to be nearer to the exit of the Underground, even though it was impossible to leave.

As Asriel looked up at the hole, he heard a loud scream and saw something fall from the top of the hole. He immediately jumped back and ran away. He hid behind a rock as something fell to the ground with a loud THUD.

Asriel continued to hide as he heard a child's voice call out, "Help!"

"What was that?" Asriel peaked his head out from his hiding place and said, "It sounds like it came from over here…"

Asriel then saw a human child laying on the ground amongst a field of flowers. Their face was down on the ground and their hair was sprawled out. They wore a green sweater with a yellow stripe.

"Oh!" Asriel exclaimed when he saw the human. He rushed over to them and asked, "You've fallen down, haven't you?"

The human groaned slightly and looked up at Asriel. They had slightly pink cheeks and their arms were shaking as they tried to get up. As they looked up at Asriel, the goat monster noticed their red eyes.

"Are you alright?" Asriel asked them. "Here, get up."

Asriel helped the human stand, supporting their chest. The human clutched their head with one hand and very quietly said, "Thank you."

Asriel nodded and started walking, helping the human walk with him. "What's your name?" he asked.

"Chara," the human said.

"Chara, huh? That's a nice name. My name is Asriel."

Chara groaned and held their head. "Where are we going?"

"I'm gonna take you to see my parents! They can help you."

Asriel guided Chara through the Ruins, getting through the puzzles with the injured human. "My home is just at the end of the Ruins. We're almost there."

Asriel and Chara continued to walk until they arrived outside of their home. "Come on," Asriel said, guiding the human inside. Chara was still holding their head and being supported by Asriel, but managed to get inside the house fine.

"Mom?!" Asriel called out. "Dad?! Hello?!"

Toriel came into the entry room and said, "Hello Asriel. I baked a pie for you. Your father is-"

Toriel cut herself off upon seeing Chara and said, "My goodness! Child, you look hurt."

Toriel bent down to pick up the human, but Chara flinched away. Asriel turned to them and said, "It's alright. This is my mom. She'll take care of you."

Chara hesitantly took Toriel's hand and the elder monster said, "Asriel, I am taking this child to your bedroom. You can explain what happened while I tend to them."

Asriel nodded and followed his mother to his bedroom. "You certainly look exhausted my child," Toriel said to Chara. "Why don't you take a brief rest?"

Chara did as Toriel said she climbed into the bed, but didn't close their eyes. "Is everything alright my child?" Toriel asked.

Chara said nothing, but looked uncomfortable with Toriel in the room. "We can come back later," Toriel said. "Or you can come out whenever you're ready. Asriel, come along."

Asriel followed his mother out of the room, stealing one last glance at Chara before closing the door. Toriel went to the kitchen and Asriel stood in the doorway. "Would you like snail pie or butterscotch cinnamon pie?"

"Snail pie please," Asriel said. Toriel nodded and cut her son a piece.

"Why don't we sit at the dining table and talk, Asriel?" Asriel did as his mother said and went to the dining table, sitting in his spot. "Tell me everything," Toriel instructed.

"Well, I went to the edge of the Ruins to explore-"

"Asriel, you know I do not want you going out there alone! Those puzzles could seriously injure you!"

"But Mom, I'm fine! Anyways, I went to the edge of the Ruins to get a glimpse of the sky through the hole. Dad always talks about the sky and says how pretty it is, so I just wanted a peak. As I was looking up, I heard a scream and saw something coming from the hole!"

"Oh goodness," Toriel said.

"I hid when I heard the noise. Then there was the voice of a kid. They were calling out for help, so I went to them. I saw that they were a human, but you always say to treat everyone nice, so I didn't hurt them. I helped them up and said I'd take them to you and dad. Their name is Chara."

"Chara, what a lovely name. Now, we should wait for your father to get back before we make too many decisions. You'll have to tell him what happened as well."

"I know, I know."

Asriel's bedroom door then opened and Toriel and Asriel looked over. Chara hesitantly walked over to the pair and Toriel smiled at them. "Hello there my child," Toriel said. "Did you have a good rest?"

Chara nodded and Toriel said, "That is good. Would you care for a slice of pie?"

"Yes please," Chara whispered.

"I will cut you a slice of butterscotch pie. Does that sound good?"

Chara nodded and Toriel went to the kitchen. "You can sit in my dad's spot," Asriel said. Chara nodded and sat down next to the young monster. Asriel smiled at them, showing some of his fangs, and Chara flinched back a bit.

"Sorry," Asriel apologized. "I won't bite, I promise. We're friendly!"

Toriel then came back in the room and said, "Here you go my dear. A nice slice of butterscotch cinnamon pie."

Toriel set the slice in front of Chara, but the human just stared at it. "Is something the matter dear?" Toriel asked.

"Um, I don't like cinnamon," Chara said, turning their head away. "I'm sorry."

"Do not be sorry my child. I should have asked first what your preferences are. You really should eat something though. You are rather small. Would you like some chocolate?"

"Yes please," Chara said.

"Alright, and once you are done eating, we need to go to New Home to see my husband Asgore."

Chara nodded and Asriel said, "You're going to love Dad, trust me!"

Chara giggled a bit at the young goat monster's enthusiasm as Toriel returned with a bar of chocolate.

"Ready to go children?"


	4. Welcome to the Family

Toriel walked with Asriel and Chara, holding both of the children's hands. They went down into the basement of the house and down to the hole that lead out of the ruins. "Come along my children," Toriel said, leading the children.

The three of them walked through and into the snowy forest just outside of Snowdin town. Chara's mouth fell open at the sudden change of atmosphere and Asriel giggled at her. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Chara nodded as they continued walking. "Tell me dear, how old are you?" Toriel asked.

"I'm nine."

"I'm nine too!" Asriel exclaimed. Chara smiled at him as they approached the town of Snowdin. There were several monsters hanging around outside of the buildings, and many of them stared at the human accompanying the queen and her son.

Chara hid their face in Toriel's robe and Asriel asked, "What's wrong?"

"They're all staring at me," Chara said.

"Well, most of them have probably never seen a human before. They're curious."

"Do not worry my dear," Toriel said. "We don't have much further to walk. We just need to take this path right here."

Toriel led the children down a path that branched off from the main road and towards a river. At the river was a gondola, and inside the gondola was a monster with a black cloak covering its entire body.

"Tra la la," they said. "I am the River Man. Or am I the River Woman…? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?"

Chara stared at this figure that didn't show any part of its body, but Asriel said, "Don't worry. River Person is nice! Come on!"

Toriel stepped onto the boat and offered her paw out to Chara. "Come my child," Toriel said gently. Chara hesitantly took the paw and stepped onto the boat, followed by Asriel.

"Where will we go today?" River Person asked.

"Hotland please," Toriel said.

"Then we're off…"

The boat then started moving and Chara looked at River Person, confused. "How are we moving without paddles?" they asked Asriel.

"It's best not to question River Person," Asriel explained. "Otherwise you'll just end up giving yourself a headache."

Chara giggled at this assertion and the boat continued to move. "I've never been on a boat before," they remarked.

"Really? Traveling with the River Person is the fastest way to get around down here. How do humans travel on the surface?"

"Um, walking mostly. If it's a long distance, we drive in cars."

"Wowie! We just travel by foot or by River Person."

The boat then stopped and Toriel climbed out. She held out her paw to Chara, who took it as Asriel stepped out. "Come again sometime," River Person said. "Tra la la."

The trio then started walking away from the river, and Chara's eyes widened at the new scenery. Gone was the cold and the snow, but instead there was an intense heat. "Where are we?" they asked.

"It's a place called Hotland," Asriel explained. "It's not much further to New Home if we take the elevator. Come on!"

"New Home?"

Toriel giggled slightly at Chara's confusion and said, "Yes, New Home. It's our new capital. My husband isn't the most original when it comes to names."

Toriel then guided the children into a silver elevator. "Can I push the button Mom?" Asriel asked.

Toriel nodded and the younger goat monster eagerly pushed the button labeled "R3." The elevator groaned slightly as it started to move. Once it stopped moving, Asriel stepped out, followed by Toriel and Chara. "Not much further my child," Toriel said to Chara.

* * *

After more walking and taking more elevators, the trio arrived outside of a house that looked similar to the one in the Ruins, except that it was gray. "We're here!" Asriel exclaimed, taking Chara's hand and running inside. Once they were inside, Asriel called out, "Dad! Mom and I are home!"

Asgore walked into the entry hall and looked down at the two children. Chara immediatly jumped and hid behind Asriel upon seeing the towering goat monster. "Asriel, is that a human?" Asgore asked, shock evident in his voice.

Asriel looked back at Chara, still holding their hand, and said, "It's okay. No need to hide. It's just my dad."

Asriel stepped aside and Asgore got a good look at the human child. It had been several years since he had last seen a human properly, but he recognized the fear in the child's face. "Hello there little one," he said gently, bending down to be at Chara's level. "I am King Asgore. What is your name?"

Chara turned their head away from Asgore and Asriel said, "This is Chara. I found them at the edge of the Ruins. They fell down into a field of flowers."

"Oh my goodness! That must have been quite a fall."

Toriel then entered the palace and Asgore smiled at her. "Hello there my dear," Toriel said, kissing Asgore on the cheek.

"Hello Tori. I was just meeting our son's new friend."

"I see. Gorey, they have no place to go. They cannot cross the barrier. What shall we do?"

"Dad, we can't leave them!" Asriel exclaimed. "Chara's just a kid!"

"I know my son. This is certainly a unique event. No human has ever come through here. We have no protocol for this sort of thing…"

Asriel stood in front of Chara, blocking them with his arm defensively. Asgore saw what his son was doing and said, "...Which is why I am saying this. They may stay with us."

Asriel smiled widely and exclaimed, "Yay!" He wrapped his arms around Chara, who smiled at him and took the hug. Asgore then stood to his full height and picked up both children in a hug, embracing Toriel as well.

"Welcome to the family, Chara."


	5. Anxiety

Over the next few weeks, changes had been made to the palace. Asgore had built another bed identical to Asriel's and placed it in the same room, on the left hand side. More clothes had been purchased for Chara, mainly green sweaters with a single yellow stripe in contrast to Asriel's green starters with multiple yellow stripes.

The human child was still incredibly shy around Toriel and Asgore, only really feeling comfortable around Asriel. They had also proven to be very anxious, with their red eyes always darting around the room and their hands fidgeting. There were nights where they would wake up screaming, and then refuse to tell anyone what about.

Toriel, being the caring and doting woman she was, immediately began treating Chara as a second child. She made sure the human was well cared for and tried her best to quell the child's anxiety, with little effect. Toriel had even begun to include Chara in Asriel's schooling that she taught him.

Asgore was as welcoming as his wife, but Chara seemed more hesitant around him. He couldn't say he was exactly surprised. He did have a much more intimidating appearance than his wife, but he tried to show the human that he was really a gentle giant. Whenever Chara woke up from a nightmare, he would make them a calming cup of tea and attempt to soothe them back to sleep with Toriel. He had taken both children multiple times to see the flowers he had been growing, and this did make Chara smile slightly.

Asriel had immediately welcomed Chara as his sibling. He was energetic and playful with them, but also mindful of their anxiety. He always tried to make them smile, with mixed results. He enjoyed having a classmate during his mother's lessons and somebody to visit his father's garden with. He was often the first woken up by Chara's screams at night, and did what he could to comfort them until his parents came in.

One day, two weeks after Chara had fallen into the Underground, they were sitting with Asriel at the dining room table, waiting for Toriel. Chara was drumming their fingers on the table as the motherly goat monster came in, holding art supplies. She set the supplies in front of the children and smiled at them.

"Children, today we are just going to have a slower day. I would like you two to have fun with these art activities. If you need anything, I will be sitting in my chair and reading."

Chara smiled slightly at the instruction, and Asriel smiled too. He knew exactly why his mother had planned this activity for the day. Chara was always the most excited when it came to art, and Asriel knew his mother wanted to make the human happy.

Asriel grabbed a crayon and a piece of construction paper and began to draw. "What are you gonna draw Chara?" he asked.

Chara said nothing as they grabbed a piece of construction paper and a yellow crayon. Asriel turned back to his drawing and let Chara do their own thing. After about an hour, Asriel looked up and said, "I'm done! Wanna see?"

He held up his construction paper and Chara looked at it. On the paper were two poorly drawn children, one with a green sweater with yellow stripes and the other with a green sweater with a single yellow stripe. The child with the single stripe had short brown hair and pink cheeks, and the child with the multiple stripes had big ears hanging off the side of its head. The children were holding hands and smiling. Above them were the words 'Best Friends Forever!'

"It's us!" Asriel exclaimed. "Do you like it?"

Chara smiled at him and nodded. "So what did you make?" Asriel asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. Chara held up their construction paper and showed Asriel a drawing of a golden flower.

"Wowie!" Asriel said. "That looks really good!"

"Thanks," Chara said. "It's a flower that they had in my…" They trailed off and said, "Um, on the Surface."

"Let's go show Mom!"

Asriel took Chara's hand and dragged them over to Toriel. "Hello there you two," she said. "What did you draw?"

Asriel showed his mother his drawing and she smiled at him. "That is very nice Asriel. What about you Chara?"

Chara hesitantly showed their drawing and Toriel said, "That looks lovely! Would you two like to hang your drawings in your room?"

"Yeah!" Asriel exclaimed. He went with Chara and hung up the drawings on their sides of the room. "These will be here forever!"

* * *

That night, Chara woke up screaming yet again. They struggled to throw off their blankets and sit up, gasping for air. Immediatly, Asriel jumped out of bed and ran to the human's side. "It's okay Chara," he said, rubbing their back with his paw. "You're okay. It was just a bad dream."

Chara trembled as tears rolled down their rosy pink cheeks. Toriel then opened the door and walked in, followed by Asgore. "It's alright dear child," Toriel said. She hugged Chara assuredly, but Chara squirmed until Toriel let go. This confused Toriel, as Chara normally let her hug them until they felt better.

"Would you like some soothing tea?" Asgore asked. "I know you're favorite."

Chara sniffled and nodded, prompting Asgore to walk out of the room. Chara shifted uncomfortably in their bed and Toriel asked, "Is something the matter?"

Chara beckoned Asriel to come to her and whispered something in his ear. Asriel blushed slightly and said, "It's alright. It happens to everyone. We're not mad."

Toriel looked at them in confusion and Asriel said, "Chara had an accident."

"Oh you poor dear! Do not worry, I can clean your sheets. Why don't you get up and I'll help you change into some dry clothes?"

Chara nodded and stood up, allowing Toriel to strip the bed. Asgore returned with a steaming cup of tea and looked at the scene with confusion. "Chara had an accident," Asriel explained to his father.

Asgore nodded and asked Chara, "Are you alright Chara?"

Chara nodded, still sniffling, and Asgore gave them the tea. "Careful, it's hot," he warned. Chara blew on the mug and took a sip as Toriel walked away with the sheets. She returned a minute later with fresh sheets and turned to her husband.

"Asgore, can you help me make Chara's bed while I help them change into some dry clothes?"

"Of course."

While Asgore made the bed, Toriel helped Chara into new clothes, and Asriel sat on his bed, wanting to be helpful but not get in the way. By the time both adults were finished, Chara had stopped sniffling, but their eyes were still darting around the room.

"Would you like us to stay with you until you fall asleep again?" Toriel asked.

Chara shook their head no and Asgore said, "If that is what you wish. Come along Tori."

Toriel and Asgore left the room, leaving Asriel alone with Chara. "Do you wanna talk about your dream?" Asriel asked.

Chara shook their head no, still trembling slightly. "I noticed you fidget a lot," Asriel stated. "Why do you do that?"

Chara shrugged their shoulders and Asriel asked, "Do you wanna go back to sleep?"

"I don't think I can," Chara said as they sipped their tea.

"That's fine. We can stay up all night together! Do you wanna play a game? We can't be too loud though, otherwise we'll wake up Mom and Dad."

"No thanks Asriel. I don't really have much energy right now."

"Oh, okay. Want me to teach you knitting?"

"Knitting?"

"Yeah! Mom taught me! It's relaxing. It might help with your fidgeting. Here, I'll get you some stuff."

Asriel then went into his toy bin and pulled out two bundles of yarn and two pairs of knitting needles. "Here, you just do it like this," he said, demonstrating the technique.

Chara followed along and smiled as they got the hang of it. "This is nice," they said. "Thank you for teaching me."

"It's no problem. It's a nice way to relax."

"Um, can I ask you something?"

"Sure! What's up?"

"Do you mind if I sit with you? I don't really wanna be in my bed now."

"Of course!" Asriel moved over and patted the spot next to him. "Come on!"

The two children sat next to each other, silently knitting for hours on end.

* * *

The next morning, Toriel knocked on the door to the bedroom. "Children?" she asked. "It's time to wake up." She opened the door and smiled at the sight.

Chara and Asriel were lying on Asriel's bed together, knitting needles and yarn on top of them. The two were fast asleep, curled up with each other.

"I'll come back later."


	6. Public Address

As more and more weeks went by, Chara began to open up bit by bit. They were nowhere near as fidgety as they were, and were much more relaxed as well. They were most open around Asriel, but had opened up significantly more to Asgore and Toriel as well.

Asriel and Chara had become close like siblings. They loved to play together and laugh together. Whenever Chara woke up from a nightmare, they would always go to Asriel and knit with him until they both fell asleep again.

About a month after Chara had joined the family, they were drawing peacefully at the dining room table. Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel hadn't been seen all day, but Chara didn't mind a little alone time.

As they continued to color, Asriel walked into the room and said, "Come on Chara, we gotta go!"

"Go where?" Chara asked as they dropped their crayon and stood up.

"Oh, I think I might have forgotten to tell you. Once a month, Dad makes this big speech to all of the monsters in the Underground. He wanted you to come this time with me and Mom!"

Chara's eyes widened as they asked, "Why me?"

"Because you're my sibling now! Dad wants to make sure all of the monsters here know who you are so that they aren't confused or scared if they see a human."

"Why would they be scared?"

"Well, some of them have never even _seen_ a human before! And those that have, the last time they did, they were being banished to the Underground."

Chara gulped back a lump in their throat and Asriel quickly added, "But don't worry! You're a good human. Dad just wants everyone else to know that. Got it?"

"I guess," they said hesitantly.

"Well come on then! Dad's speech is starting soon!"

Asriel began running to the balcony, pulling Chara along with them. The human could see Asgore and Toriel and could hear the sound of many voices down below them. Toriel saw the two children and beckoned them to come out to the balcony with her.

Asriel stood eagerly next to his mother, but Chara hesitantly hid behind the goat monster. They quietly looked out from behind Toriel and saw hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters below, speaking amongst each other.

Toriel giggled at Chara and said, "Do not be afraid my child. No need to hide."

Chara remained hidden as Asgore tapped the microphone he was holding, silencing the monsters below. "Citizens of the Underground," he said into the microphone. "It is I, King Asgore. Today's monthly address will be just a bit different from the previous ones. I am always joined at these addresses by my family, but today, I would like to announce that our family has grown."

Asgore turned towards Toriel and nodded at her. Toriel nodded back and moved slightly, showing Chara. Asriel took their hand and they hesitantly went with him to stand next to Asgore. All of the monsters below gasped when they saw Chara, who was shaking nervously. "It's alright," Asriel said. Chara nodded as Asgore continued.

"This is Chara," he said. "My son Asriel found them near the edge of the Ruins. As I'm sure you can all see, Chara is a human. But this means nothing to us. Our family has shown compassion and love to this human, and I expect all other monsters to do the same.

"Chara has been with us for a little less than a month, and they and Asriel have already become close like siblings. This, my people, symbolizes hope for the future! A hope that monsters and humans may get along, in peace and in harmony!"

All of the monsters cheered below and Asgore continued. "These two children are our future. They are proof that monsters and humans can live in peace. If these two may get along and become siblings, it shows a great hope for the next generation!

"We will see the Sun again, monsters of the Underground! We shall reach the Surface and rejoin the humans, my fellow monsters. Not as enemies, but as friends! We shall go by the guidance bestowed upon us by these children and live in peace and friendship with the humans above! We will show mercy and forgiveness to our former enemies! We will show them that we mean no harm, and only then may we live in true peace and harmony! I swear to you, Monsterkind!"

The monsters below were roaring with cheers and applause by this point, and Asriel smiled at Chara. "See, they love you!" Asriel exclaimed happily. "Listen to how happy they are!"

Chara listened to the yells of the monsters below and smiled. Toriel walked up to the children and placed a paw on each of their backs. "You inspire hope, my children," Toriel said. "I haven't heard the citizens be this energized in, well, ever. All because of you two. You should be proud."

Chara looked at their adopted family, then down at the citizens below, then at Asriel again. They smiled happily and squeezed the prince's hand.


	7. Human Holidays

A few days after Asgore's speech, Asriel and Chara were playing with some of Asriel's toys in their bedroom. "Hey Azzy?" Chara said, using their nickname for their sibling.

"Yeah?" Asriel asked.

"How come you guys haven't started getting ready for Christmas yet?"

Asriel had a confused look on his face and asked, "What's Christmas?"

"You guys don't celebrate Christmas?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh, I need to tell you about it. So, on Christmas, families get together and give each other presents. There's lots of party lights that are strung up around houses and a big tree that everybody puts their presents underneath."

"Wow, that sounds fun!"

"Yeah, and on Christmas Eve, Santa comes and gives gifts to all the kids who have been good. You write a letter to Santa telling him what you want for Christmas and, if you've been a good kid, he brings you what you asked for!"

"Neato! What kind of stuff did you get from Santa?"

"Oh, I was never good enough to get stuff from Santa."

"Really? You're so good though!"

"Yeah, I guess not according to them…"

Chara trailed off and Asriel looked at them expectantly. Chara never talked about the Surface that much, and their answers were always only half of what was being asked.

Deciding to change the subject, Asriel asked, "So what does Santa look like?"

"Um, he wears a big red suit with a red hat that has a white ball on the end of it. He normally carries his toys around in a big sack. He also has a long, fuzzy beard."

"Wow! We should tell Mom and Dad and see if we can celebrate Christmas! Come on!"

Asriel stood and ran into the sitting room, with Chara just behind them. Toriel was sitting in her chair by the fireplace and Asriel said, "Mom! Mom! Chara just told me about something cool! Something called 'Christmas'!"

"That certainly sounds interesting," Toriel said. "Can you tell me about this 'Christmas' my child?"

Chara explained the holiday again and Toriel smiled happily at them. "That sounds like a wonderful day!" she exclaimed happily. "When is Christmas?"

"December 25th," Chara said. "In a couple of months. Some humans like to get ready super early though."

"Why don't we tell Asgore about it when he comes back from the garden? We can discuss this idea further."

Chara nodded and Asriel excitedly said, "I know he's gonna like the idea!"

Toriel giggled at her son and said, "I'm sure he will."

* * *

After speaking with Asgore about the holiday, it was decided that the monsters of the Underground would be introduced to the idea of Christmas at next month's public address and the holiday would be celebrated that year.

Asriel went to bed excited that night and turned to face Chara. "Golly, I can't wait for Christmas to come!" he said happily. "I'm gonna get you-"

"Azzy!" Chara exclaimed jokingly. "You're not supposed to tell me! You gotta keep your present a secret until Christmas."

"But that's so far away! Like, two whole months!"

Chara giggled at their sibling and took out their knitting supplies. "I think I finished this," they said, revealing a lime green tea cozy.

"That looks really nice!"

"Thanks. I don't know what I'm gonna do next though."

"Maybe something for Christmas?"

Chara thought about the idea and said, "I know exactly what I'm gonna do."

* * *

Over the next couple months, it was impossible to find Chara without their knitting supplies. Even when their nightmares would happen, they would immediately jump up and continue to knit. Anytime they were asked what they were working on, they went silent and continued working on their project.

The Underground and all of the monsters in it were busy preparing for the holidays, doing the things Chara said that humans did for Christmas. Monsters would gather in groups and sing carols to other monsters, with the words not being quite right. They would string up colorful lights outside and inside their houses. Snowdin had a large tree placed in the center of town and monsters had been leaving presents for each other underneath it. Other monsters who didn't live in the snowy city had trees in their own houses, with presents piled underneath them.

On Christmas morning, Chara was sleeping soundly when they were woken up by somebody shaking their arm. They opened their red eyes and saw Asriel standing above them, smiling eagerly.

"Chara, wake up!" he exclaimed. "It's Christmas! Come on!"

Chara chuckled at their sibling's enthusiasm and got out of bed. They followed Asriel to the main room and saw Toriel sitting in her reading chair. "Good morning you two," she greeted. "And Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Mom!" Asriel exclaimed. "Where's Dad? I wanna start opening gifts!"

"Your father had some business to attend to. He will join us later. Until then, would you two like some breakfast? I have been trying to make gingerbread cake and need two very special children to try it."

"We'll do it!" Asriel exclaimed, running to his spot at the dining table. Chara sat next to him like always and Toriel placed two slices of cake in front of them.

Both children took a bite of the cake and smiled. "This is really good Mom!" Asriel exclaimed.

Chara added on, "Thank you Miss Mom," Chara said, using the name that they referred to Toriel as. Toriel and Asgore had both told the child that they didn't need to call them "Miss Toriel" and "Mr. Asgore", so they started calling them "Miss Mom" and "Mr. Dad".

After the two children finished their cake, there was a knock at the door to the house. "I wonder who that could be," Toriel said as she went to answer the door. The two children followed behind her as she opened the door.

Once the door was open, a hearty voice rang out and said, "Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!"

Asriel and Chara gasped as Toriel moved to let the person in. He was wearing a big red suit and a red hat with a white ball on the end. Long floppy ears stuck out from the sides of the hat and there were long horns that curled out on the ends outside of the hat. He carried a large red sack over his shoulder and had a long, blonde beard.

"Santa!" Asriel exclaimed.

"Ho ho ho!" 'Santa' exclaimed. "Yes, it is I, Santa! I heard that two very good children lived here. I have some presents for them! Tell me, so you know where Asriel and Chara are?"

"We're right here!" Asriel exclaimed. "I'm Asriel and this is Chara!"

"Well, I have some presents for you two for being such good children. Ho ho ho!"

'Santa' reached into his large bag and pulled out two presents wrapped with white paper and red ribbon. Both children eagerly took their present, and Chara stared at theirs in awe, their red eyes going wide. Tears started developing in their eyes and 'Santa' knelt down in front of them in concern.

"Is everything alright dear?" he asked.

Chara nodded and said quietly, "I've never gotten a gift from Santa before."

"Well you certainly deserve one for being such a good child! Now, I have to go, children. Plenty more toys to deliver to all of the monsters of the Underground! Ho ho ho!"

"Bye Santa!" Asriel exclaimed as 'Santa' walked out of the house. As the door closed, Asriel turned to Chara and said, "I can't believe Dad missed him! That was so cool!"

Toriel giggled at the two children and asked, "Why don't you two put your presents underneath the tree? I'm sure your father will be back soon."

The kids did as Toriel instructed and placed their presents underneath the tree. "No schooling for you two today," Toriel said. "You can go play while waiting for your father."

"Cool, thanks Mom!" Asriel exclaimed. He and Chara ran off to their room and, less than ten minutes later, the front door opened again.

"Hello!" Asgore called out. Asriel and Chara then came out of their room and Asgore braced for impact as Asriel ran into his father. Asgore chuckled as Asriel hugged him and picked up his son, smiling.

"Dad, you missed Santa!" Asriel exclaimed. "It was so cool! He gave me and Chara each a present!"

"Oh wow!" Asgore exclaimed, sharing a knowing look with Toriel. "I'm sorry I missed that! Why don't we open some presents?"

Asgore set Asriel back down on the ground and the young prince ran over to the tree they had displayed. Chara sat next to him, and his parents sat on the ground as well. "So how do we do this?" Asriel asked Chara.

"Um, we each grab a gift that we wanted to give someone and all exchange," Chara explained.

"Why don't you start Chara?" Toriel asked.

"Okay." Chara went to the tree and grabbed three green boxes each wrapped with a yellow ribbon. She gave Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel each one present and they all opened them.

Asriel opened his first and pulled out a pair of knitted gloves. The gloves were the same shade of lime green as Asriel's sweater and he smiled. "Thanks Chara!" he exclaimed, putting them on. "I love 'em!"

Chara smiled as Toriel opened her present and pulled out three pairs of knitted socks. One pair was purple, the second a royal blue, and the third white. Each of them also had the Delta Rune symbol on them.

"Oh how lovely!" Toriel exclaimed. "These are perfect! You've really gotten good at knitting Chara."

"Thank you," Chara said, blushing slightly at the compliment, making their cheeks more pink than normal.

Asgore opened his present and let out a hearty laugh at what he pulled out. Inside the box was a large, pink knit sweater with the words _Mr. Dad Guy_ stitched onto it. Asgore put the sweater on, amazed that it actually fit over his long horns, and smiled happily.

"It fits perfectly!" he exclaimed, standing up. He picked up Chara, who yelled out in alarm, and hugged them tightly. "Thank you Chara," he said as he continued to hug them.

Chara giggled and Asgore set them down. The rest of the family continued to exchange gifts and thank yous, all smiling and happy. "I must say that this human holiday is certainly a fun one!" Toriel exclaimed.

"I agree!" Asgore exclaimed. "This holiday has made the citizens more joyful and full of hope than I have seen since we all came down here. All thanks to you, Chara."

Chara blushed slightly at the comment as Asriel handed them a white box tied with a red ribbon. "Here you go!" he exclaimed. Chara untied the ribbon and opened the box, pulling out the gift.

Inside the box was a heart shaped locket. The locket said _Best Friends Forever_. "Do you like it?" Asriel asked. He then reached under his shirt and pulled out a locket that looked identical to the one he had given Chara. "I have one too! We can match!"

"I love it," Chara said happily as they took it out of the box. They held their shoulder length hair up as Asriel helped clasp the locket around their neck. "Thank you Asriel."

Asriel hugged Chara happily and said, "Merry Christmas Chara."

Chara looked at her adopted brother, then at their adopted parents, both of whom were smiling down at them. Chara smiled and hugged Asriel back.

"Merry Christmas."

**Hooray for a totally out of season Christmas chapter! I always wondered why it is that the monsters of the Underground celebrate what is a very human holiday, so then I thought, "What if the first human was the one that introduced them to the holiday?" This chapter was super fun to write for all of the fluff and tooth aching sweetness. Hope you guys enjoyed it!**


	8. Human

A few weeks later, Chara and Asriel were playing outside of the castle together. They were playing with some wooden swords and had towels tied around their backs like capes. The capes bellowed behind them as they both ran around the long, grand hallway that led to the throne room.

"Yah!" Asriel exclaimed, hitting Chara's sword with his own. He then ran away and Chara giggled as they raised their sword.

"Oh no you don't!" they exclaimed, attempting to hit Asriel. By this point, the young prince was too far away, so Chara threw their wooden sword at him.

The sword hit Asriel in the back of the head and he fell to the ground. Chara's eyes widened and they ran to Asriel, who was lying on the ground. "Azzy?" Chara asked.

Asriel's eyes were glistening with tears as he looked up at Chara. "That hurt," he said, sniffling as some tears rolled down his face.

"I didn't throw it that hard!" Chara said defensively.

"Yes you did!" Asriel yelled back as he started to cry. "That hurt a lot!"

Chara softened as their sibling started sobbing and rubbed his back. "I'm sorry," they said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

The two of them then turned their heads as the sound of footsteps approaching could be heard. Toriel walked into the long hall and immediately ran over when she saw the two children on the ground.

"What is going on?!" she exclaimed as she got to them. "Are you two okay?"

Asriel sniffled and wiped his face as he said, "Chara and I were playing a game and we got a bit too rough. I got hurt and fell."

"I said I was sorry!" Chara exclaimed defensively.

"There is no need to yell my dear," Toriel said. "Maybe you two should stop playing with the swords for now. I don't want anyone getting hurt again."

"I said I was sorry!" Chara yelled again, this time more loudly as they ran off.

"Chara!" Toriel exclaimed as the human ran out of the hallway towards the throne room. They didn't respond and Toriel turned to her son. "Are you sure you're alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I just overreacted a bit," Asriel explained. "I didn't mean to make Chara upset."

"Do not worry my child. I am sure that they are fine."

"Yeah, but I should still go and find them."

Asriel went off in the direction that Chara had run and walked into the throne room. There was nobody in there besides the buttercups blooming in the garden that Asgore maintained. "Chara?" Asriel called out. "Where'd you go?"

Asriel continued walking out of the throne room and sighed. Chara was standing near the barrier, looking out at the horizon. The barrier was impossible to see through to the other side, but Chara still stared at it.

"Chara?" Asriel asked. Chara didn't move and Asriel walked up to them. "We should go. Dad doesn't like us being here."

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's fine. I was being a crybaby."

"No you weren't. I hurt you. I hurt someone I care about. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Chara. Can we go back inside now?"

Chara nodded and Asriel took their hand, leading them back to the castle.

* * *

The next afternoon, Chara was very distant. They hadn't spoken a word all day and barely made eye contact with anyone. Even while doing school work, they were silent when doing what Toriel assigned them.

Once their school day ended, Chara went to their bedroom and closed the door. "Is everything alright with Chara?" Toriel asked.

"I'm not sure," Asriel responded. "I'm gonna go talk to them." Asriel walked away from his mother and entered his bedroom. In the bedroom, he saw Chara sitting on their bed, absent-mindedly knitting something.

"Chara?" Asriel asked. "Is everything alright?"

Chara said nothing and Asriel said, "Chara, please talk to me."

Chara turned away from the young goat monster and tears developed in Asriel's eyes. "What is going on?!" he yelled, his voice quivering. "Why are you ignoring me?! What did I do wrong?!"

Asriel let out a sob and sniffled, wiping his face. "I'm sorry for being such a crybaby."

"No."

Asriel looked up at Chara, who still wasn't facing him, and asked, "What?"

"You shouldn't be sorry. I'm the one that hurt you."

"That's why you wouldn't talk to me? Chara, I'm fine! Really!"

"But I still hurt you!" Chara yelled, turning to face their adopted sibling. They buried their face in their knees and mumbled, "They were right about me. I am a monster. No, worse than that. I'm a human."

"Who said that about you? That's not true. You're a good person."

"No I'm not. I'm a nuisance. I wake you guys up in the middle of the night because I can't stop screaming. I hurt you after you let me join your family. I'm not good. Just like they said."

"Chara, whoever 'they' are, they're wrong. I know you don't like talking about what happened to you on the Surface, but things are different now. Mom and Dad and I want to help you. We don't mind that you get nightmares. Everyone gets nightmares! And we were just playing. You didn't mean to hurt me. You said so yourself! You are good Chara, trust me. So please stop beating yourself up and come play with me."

Chara looked up at their sibling and said," I don't deserve your forgiveness."

"That's the thing about monsters. We're airways quick to give Mercy to everyone. Especially those who deserve it. And you do deserve it Chara. Look at all you've done since you came here! The monsters are so happy! I've never seen them so hopeful before! All because of us. Because of you."

Before Chara could say anything else, Asriel wrapped his arms around them in a tight hug. Chara hesitated a moment before hugging back, sighing to themselves. "You know something I like to do when something like this happens and I don't want to forgive myself?" Asriel asked.

"What?"

"I like to laugh it off. Laughter makes you feel better. Just laugh your cares away or think of a funny joke. Try it."

Chara was silent for a moment before giggling to themselves. Asriel joined in laughing and asked, "Feeling better?"

Chara giggled a bit more and said, "Yeah."


	9. Family Photo

One day, after finishing up their lessons with Toriel, Asriel and Chara were playing in their bedroom, but were quickly growing bored. Chara was absentmindedly fiddling with their knitting needles. "Wanna go play in the flowers?" Asriel asked.

Chara nodded and Asriel offered a paw. Chara took the paw and Asriel pulled them off of the bed. As the children walked out of the hallways, they ran into Toriel. "We're gonna go play in the garden," Asriel explained.

"Alright, but do not forget that we have our family photo later on," Toriel said.

"We know. Bye!" The two of them then went down the stairs that led to the garden. Buttercups were the main flowers that bloomed in the garden, but there were several different types as well.

Chara went over to some purple and pink flowers growing on the side and smiled at them, bending down. "These are really pretty," they said, taking a deep inhale.

"Dad likes to grow them," Asriel said. "It reminds him of the Surface. Of course, it's kinda hard to grow lots of flowers down here. Most flowers require sunlight. But we do have some types that don't need the sun to grow."

Chara picked a pink flower and twirled it in their fingers. "My favorite type of flower is Golden Flowers."

"I've never heard of those."

"They're really pretty. They bloomed in my town a lot."

Chara stared longingly at the pink flower in their hand and Asriel knew to drop the subject. "Why don't we gather some flowers together?" he asked. "For our family photo later today? Not too many though, otherwise Dad might get mad."

"Okay!"

The two of them stayed in the garden for the next several hours, gathering the nicer flowers they could find. Eventually, they had four piles of flowers, and Chara started braiding one pile together into a flower crown.

"Children?" Toriel called out from the throne room entrance. She saw the two of them sitting on the ground with their flowers and smiled at them.

"It looks like you two have certainly been busy," she commented. "Your father will be down here shortly so we can have our photo."

"Mom, look what we did!"

Asriel showed his mother the piles of flowers that they had gathered and Toriel smiled at them. Chara then walked up to Toriel and showed her the flower crown. "That looks lovely Chara!" she exclaimed happily.

"It's for you," Chara explained.

"For me?"

"Yeah!" Asriel said excitedly. "You can wear it during the photo!"

Toriel giggled and said, "Alright." She took the crown from Chara and placed it on her head. The crown fit perfectly and Toriel smiled. "Thank you very much Chara."

"Hello?" Asgore called out as he entered the throne room. He saw his wife wearing the flower crown and the piles of flowers at his childrens' feet and asked, "What's going on down here?"

"We got some flowers for the photo!" Asriel exclaimed. "Chara made Mom a flower crown!"

"I can certainly see that. It looks wonderful. Is there anything for me?"

"Um…" Chara said, not having thought of Asgore.

They turned their face away and Asgore said, "Do not worry Chara. It is fine."

"Ooh, I know!" Asriel exclaimed. "We could put some flowers in your beard!"

Asgore smiled at the idea and said, "That sounds wonderful. Go right ahead."

He sat on the ground so the children could reach his beard and they started to place the flowers decoratively in his beard. Once they were done, there were still quite a few flowers left. Asriel grabbed half of them and made them into a bouquet.

"Here," he said, giving the bouquet to Chara. Chara took the flowers and Asriel gathered the remaining flowers into a second bouquet. "We can each have one!"

"My King?" another monster asked as they walked into the throne room. This monster was a pale white with bat-like wings on their back. They were holding a camera in their hand and looked at the Dreemur family. "You called me here to take your picture?"

"Ah, yes of course!" Asgore exclaimed. "Asriel, stand in front of your mother. Chara, stand in front of me."

Everyone got into the positions that Asgore said, but Chara stared at the camera before hiding their face in Asgore's purple robes. "Chara, what is the matter?" Asgore asked sympathetically.

"I don't like having my picture taken," Chara said timidly, their face still hidden. "Can you take it without me?"

"But Chara, you helped us get ready for this!" Asriel insisted. "And you're part of the family! You should be in it!"

"Now, we don't want to make them uncomfortable," Toriel said, bending down to be in front of Chara. She gently stroked the human's hair and said, "My child, if you do not wish to have your picture taken, then that is fine. But please do know that we will be missing a family member. But it is your choice."

"Can you not show my face?" Chara asked, not wanting to come out of hiding.

"If that is what you wish, I am sure we can manage it."

Chara slowly pulled their face away from Asgore's robes and hid their face behind their bouquet of flowers. "That works just fine my dear," Toriel said. She got back in position behind Asriel and put a paw on his shoulder. Asgore did the same to Chara and they all looked at the monster with the camera.

"Alright everyone, smile!" they exclaimed, holding up the camera. The monsters all smiled happily while Chara hid their face behind the flowers. The sound of the camera clicking could be heard and the monster said, "Perfect! I'll have it developed by the end of the week!"

"Thank you very much," Asgore said as the monster spread their wings and flew off. Asgore looked down at Chara and said, "Thank you very much for letting us take the photo."

Chara nodded and Asgore hugged them. They hugged back and Toriel smiled as she joined the hug. Not wanting to be left out, Asriel joined in as well and they all smiled together, happy.


	10. Arts and Crafts

Once the photo was developed, the family had a few copies framed. Chara had been surprised and grateful when Toriel had given them a photo, which had been displayed on the dresser.

That particular day, Toriel had decided to give the kids an easy day and the two of them were doing arts and crafts together. Chara was very concentrated on their work while they glued macaroni noodles to a piece of construction paper.

"I'm done!" Asriel exclaimed. "Wanna see?"

Chara nodded and Asriel held up his paper. He had cut it with scissors so that it had jagged edges and had taped it together so that it formed a paper crown. Asriel put it on his head and smiled happily. "Now I'm King of the Underground!" he exclaimed. Chara giggled at this and Asriel asked, "What did you make?"

"Um, I made it for Mr. Dad," they said. Chara held up their paper and showed that they had glued macaroni noodles to the paper in the shape of a flower.

"I'm sure Dad will love it! You know, you should write that it's for him."

Chara nodded and grabbed a crayon. They wrote on the construction paper "For King Dad!"

"Like this?" they asked.

Asriel smiled at the way the human referred to Asgore and said, "Yeah! Wanna find it and give it to him?"

"Okay."

Asriel got out of his chair and Chara followed him. He walked over to Toriel and tugged on her purple robe. "Mom, can we go see Dad in the garden?" he asked.

Toriel looked down at the two children and asked, "Are you both done with your arts and crafts?"

"Mhmm! Chara made something for Dad!"

"Oh, how lovely. May I see it, Chara?"

Chara hid the paper behind their back and Toriel said, "That's fine dear. You may both leave if you wish."

Chara nodded and Asriel ran out of the room. Chara ran after them to the garden. Asgore was snipping some golden buttercups next to Toriel's throne and Asriel ran up to him, yelling, "Dad!"

Asgore chuckled and embraced his son, picking the goat monster up. "Hello there you two," he said, noticing Chara too. "What brings you two here?"

"Chara made you something!"

"Oh, you did?" Asgore asked Chara, setting Asriel down. "May I see?"

Chara nodded and showed him the flower. Asgore's eyes widened and he bent down to Chara's level. "'To King Dad'," he read out loud. He put a paw on the paper and Chara handed it to him, fidgeting their legs nervously.

"I love it," he said, choking up. "Thank you so much Chara."

Asriel smiled at Chara and said, "I told you he'd like it!"

Chara smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it."


	11. Echo Flowers

One day, on a day that Toriel decided that they didn't need to have school for the day, Asriel and Chara went to explore the Underground. Toriel and Asgore had granted them permission, so long as they were careful and were home before nightfall. Chara stuck close to Asriel because they hadn't explored the Underground much and didn't want to get lost.

"I know where we should go," Asriel said as he walked with Chara to River Person. "We can go see the Echo Flowers!"

"Echo Flowers?" Chara asked.

"You guys don't have those on the Surface?" Chara shook their head no and Asriel said, "Well, I think you'll like 'em. Come on!"

The two made it to where River Person was in Hotland and the hooded figure didn't look at them, but still spoke. "Tra la la," they said. "Care for a ride?"

"Yes please," Asriel said as he climbed into the boat. He held out his paw to help Chara in and they gladly took it. Asriel helped his sibling into the boat and they both sat down.

River Person stared ahead at the water and asked, "Where will we go today?"

"Waterfall please," Asriel said.

River Person nodded and said, "Then we're off." The boat started to move of its own accord and River Person said, "Tra la la. Beware of the man who speaks in hands."

"What does that mean?" Chara asked.

"Eh, it's best not to think about it too much," Asriel said as the boat stopped. The two children stepped out of the boat and Asriel said, "Thank you River Person."

"Come again sometime," River Person said. "Tra la la."

"Do you wanna explore a bit or go straight for the flowers?" Asriel asked.

"I'm fine with either," Chara said.

The two walked away from where River Person was and saw a small cave. "Ooh, let's go see Mr. Gerson!" Asriel exclaimed, running into the cave. Chara ran behind him and saw that they had entered a shop. Standing in front of them was an elderly looking tortoise with an archaeologist outfit on and a white beard.

"Well hello there young ones!" he exclaimed. "Haven't seen you in a while Prince Asriel."

"Hi Mr. Gerson," Asriel said, smiling. "This is my sibling, Chara."

"Well hello there," Gerson said. "I heard that the king and queen adopted a human. 'Course, I haven't seen you yet. I don't really get out all that much. So, what brings you by here?"

"Chara and I are going to go see the Echo Flowers!"

"Oh, ya are? Those things give me the creeps, always repeating what you just said. Well, don't let me stop you. Thank you for visiting though."

Chara looked at Gerson closely and then noticed a symbol next to him. It was a circle with two wings next to it, along with three triangles underneath it, the third of which was upside down. Chara recognized it as the symbol that Toriel wore on her robes. "Excuse me?" Chara asked, pointing at the symbol. "What's that symbol?"

Gerson looked where they were pointing and said, "Eh? You don't know what that is? The queen didn't teach you that during your lessons? Wa ha ha! That's the Delta Rune, the emblem of our kingdom. The kingdom of ! Great name, huh? It's as I always say. Ol' King Fluffybuns can't name for beans!"

"What does it mean though?"

"That emblem actually predates written history. The original meaning has been lost to time. All we know is that the triangles symbolize us monsters below, and the winged circle above symbolizes...Somethin' else. Most people say the angel from the prophecy."

"Prophecy? What prophecy?"

Asriel looked interested as well, and Gerson continued, "Oh yeah...The prophecy. Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom." Chara's eyes widened at this statement and Asriel's mouth fell open as he looked at his sibling. "Some people, however, have been taking a bleaker outlook...Callin' that circle the 'Angel of Death.' A harbinger of destruction, waitin' to 'free' us from this mortal realm…"

Chara felt a pit in their stomach and gulped down a lump in their throat as Gerson continued, "In my opinion, when I see that little circle...I jus' think it looks neat! Wahaha!"

Chara started trembling slightly and Gerson quickly noticed. "Did I scare you dearie?" he asked. "I didn't mean ta. I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm talkin' 'bout. Don' listen to this old fool."

"Chara, are you alright?" Asriel asked.

Chara nodded and asked, "Can we go?"

"Sure, no problem. Bye Mr. Gerson!"

"Have a nice time you two," Gerson said as the children left the cave.

Asriel could see that Chara was still slightly shaken up and asked, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I guess. That prophecy kinda spooked me though."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Mr. Gerson says that kind of thing all the time. It's nothing to worry about."

"How do you even know him?"

"He's Dad's friend. They fought in the war together. He was known as the Hammer of Justice. But he can be a bit, um, nutty sometimes. Don't listen to him about that prophecy. It might not even be true."

Chara nodded and asked, "Where to next?"

"Well, Mom did ask if we could pick up some snails before we go home. Blook Acres isn't that far from here. We can head over there before we visit the Echo Flowers."

Asriel led the way left of Gerson's shop to a hall that had four different ways to go. Asriel turned right and went down the closest path and Chara followed him. There, they saw a wooden fence that housed some snails, along with a racing track that had a red snail, a blue snail, and a yellow snail.

"Hello there," a melancholic voice said, making Chara yell in alarm. They looked for the source of the voice and saw a sad looking ghost floating in front of Asriel, wearing a pair of black headphones.

"Ohh, sorry, did i scare you?" the ghost asked Chara. "sorry...i mess everything up."

"Um, it's alright," Chara said, still a bit shaken up.

"well, welcome to blook acres...everyone else is on break, so i guess i'll have to do...i'm napstablook."

"What's with the racing track?" Chara asked.

"oh, you can play a game of thunder snail if you like...your snail is the yellow one...if your snail wins the race, you win...you encourage your snail...it's 10g to play."

"Chara, Mom said we shouldn't waste our money," Asriel said.

"Just one game? For fun?" Chara asked.

"Alright." Asriel gave Napstablook the money. Despite being incorporeal, the ghost was able to take the money.

"Ready?" Napstablook asked. "3, 2, 1, go."

The snails all started to move, but the yellow snail was moving the slowest. Chara and Asriel shouted encouragements at the snail, who stopped moving when they yelled at it. Both children were confused and continued to yell encouragements. The snail looked terrified somehow and turned upside down. "What?!" Chara exclaimed. "Move snail, move!"

The snail then retreated into its shell as it caught fire, making Asriel frightened. The blue snail eventually crossed the finish line and both children looked at Napstablook, confused. "oh…." he said. "looks like you encouraged your snail too much...all that pressure to succeed...really got to her...oh….."

The snails then all retreated back to the starting line and the yellow snail became upright and was no longer on fire. "What the…?" Chara asked.

"Told you it would be a waste of money," Asriel said before turning to Napstablook. "Can we buy a couple jars of snails please?"

"if you want to, i guess…" Napstablook said, floating over to the other pen with snails in it. He gathered two jars and gave them to the young goat monster. "here you go…"

Asriel paid for the jars and the two children left, Chara looking back at the farm skeptically. "That guy was weird," they said.

* * *

After walking for a bit longer, the two walked into an area with glowing rocks on the ceiling. On the ground were blue flowers with six petals. The flowers were glowing, lighting up the room slightly. "This is the Wishing Room," Asriel said. "Mom and Dad tell me that, when we were still on the Surface, monsters would look up at the stars and make wishes. Now, we just have these rocks. But you can still wish on 'em."

"These flowers are pretty," Chara said, bending down to touch one of the blue flowers.

When they touched it, the flower repeated back to them, "These flowers are pretty."

Chara jumped back slightly and Asriel said, "Guess you figured out what those are. Echo Flowers repeat what they last heard. Neat, huh?"

"Yeah, they are."

Chara and Asriel walked through the marsh of Echo Flowers and stared up at the ceiling. Chara closed their eyes and smiled. "I made my wish," they said.

Asriel nodded and Chara turned to him. "So? Don't you have any wishes to make?" Chara asked as they continued walking.

Asriel blushed slightly and said, "...hmmm, just one, but...it's kind of stupid."

"Don't say that! I promise I won't laugh."

The two walked into the next room, which had even more flowers in it, and Asriel said, "...hmmm...if I say my wish...You promise you won't laugh at me?"

"Of course I won't laugh!"

"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around...That's my wish."

Chara then started to laugh and Asriel blushed harder. "...hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at it!"

Chara giggled a bit and said, "Sorry, it's just funny…That's my wish too."

Asriel's eyes widened and he asked, "Really? But you've seen the Surface before! Your wish was to go back?"

Chara shook their head and said, "No, that wasn't my wish. My wish was for you to be able to see the Surface. For all monsters to see the Surface."

Asriel stopped walking and Chara stopped with him, looking at their sibling. Asriel then surprised Chara by wrapping his arms around them in a tight hug. "I'm glad you're my sibling," he said.

Chara hugged back and smiled. "I'm glad you're mine too."

**I wanted to write a longer chapter to make up for the shorter one from last time, and I think I succeeded. So, thinking about the rooms with the Echo Flowers in the game, I couldn't help but wonder who were the people talking that said that conversation? I thought it would be interesting and add a bit of irony if it was Chara and Asriel that were the ones who spoke about seeing the Surface. I also just wanted a bit more of Chara interacting with other monsters that aren't the Dreemurr family.**


	12. The Prophecy

The two children walked all the way back to the castle, each holding one of the jars of snails. When they arrived at the castle, they walked in and Asriel announced, "Mom, Dad, we're back!"

Toriel came to greet them and said, "Hello my children. Thank you for getting the snails. Did you have fun?"

"Uh huh!"

"Well I am glad to hear it. Now, these snails will go into dinner tonight. Is that alright with you?"

"Yum!"

Seeing the look of apprehension on Chara's face, Toriel said, "Do not worry Chara. If you don't want snails tonight, I can make you something else. I know you don't like snails as much as the rest of us, and that is completely understandable."

"Thank you," Chara said.

"Dinner will be ready shortly. Feel free to go and play until I call you."

"Alright Mom," Asriel said as he and Chara went to their room.

* * *

That night, Asgore was tucking the two children into bed when Chara sat up. "Um, Mister King Dad?" they asked.

Asgore looked away from tucking in Asriel and asked, "Hmm, what is it Chara?"

"Can you tell us anything about the symbol that Mrs. Queen Mom wears on her robes?"

"Oh? What sparked this sudden interest?"

"We talked to Mr. Gerson earlier today," Asriel explained. "He had that symbol in his shop. He said something about it, but we were confused."

"Well, I don't know much more about the symbol then he does. We're both roughly the same age after all. Anyways, that symbol is the Delta Rune. It's the symbol of our people. Have either of you seen it in the stained glass windows in the golden hallway?"

"Oh yeah, huh!" Asriel said. "I knew I'd seen it before!"

"Yes, that is the symbol of our people."

"But what does it mean?" Chara asked. "Mr. Gerson said it was really old."

"Indeed it is. The Delta Rune predates most written history. The meaning has been lost to time as well. Most meanings assigned to it are vague interpretations at best."

"He said it had something to do with a prophecy?"

"Oh did he now?" Chara couldn't help but notice the slight look of apprehension on Asgore's face as he said this.

"Yeah, something about a prophecy and an angel from the Surface."

"Is that why you are so curious about it?"

"Kinda. What is the prophecy? Why hasn't Mrs. Queen Mom taught us about the Delta Rune if it's so important? Mr. Gerson said we should have learned about it. And what does it have to do with the prophecy?"

"Well, when we were first forced into the Underground long ago, the Delta Rune, to us at least, symbolized hope. Hope that we would one day see the light of day again. That a human would come and free us from our prison. The triangles underneath the wings were always meant to symbolize monsters, this much we knew.

"But when we were forced down here, many monsters believed the wings and circle were an idea of someone coming to free us. I don't honestly know what it means.

"The prophecy was predicted when we were forced here as well. It was told by an elder monster that one day, a human who had seen the Surface would fall down here and free us all."

"It's-is that me?" Chara asked.

"We are unsure. While you did fall down here, abs you have seen the Surface, we still have no way to leave here. The Barrier cannot be passed by a human soul alone. It requires a human soul and a monster soul together. But, to truly free us, we would the power of seven human souls. Seven human souls together would generate enough power to destroy the barrier."

"Seven?"

"Yes, seven. While we have no way of obtaining those souls yet, Chara, you still have done a great thing for the monsters of the Underground. You have given them hope for the future. Hope that monsters and humans may live in peace and harmony. The prophecy may not be true, but you still have been an angel sent from above to help us, Chara."

Chara nodded before saying," There was one other thing. When talking about the prophecy, Mr. Gerson said that some other monsters believe something else about the angel. That they are the 'Angel of Death.'"

Asgore growled slightly and said," Yes, some monsters do believe this. But you have to understand our history. Most monsters have never seen a human besides you Chara. They are scared of them and what they can do. Humans are much more powerful than monsters and, given our little populous, it would not take much effort to eradicate us all."

Chara's eyes widened at this and Asgore quickly added, "But that is just hysteria. You are the first and only human to ever come through here, and you have done nothing wrong. You have inspired hope rather than fear. You have lived rather than killed. I know what you are worried about Chara. That you have the potential to be the Angel of Death. But this is not the truth. I promise you that. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I think so," Chara said.

"Good. Now, goodnight you two."

Asgore kissed Asriel on the forehead and went over to kiss Chara as well. "I love you both very much," Asgore said.

"We love you too Dad," Asriel said as Asgore left the room.

* * *

Later on that night, Chara woke up screaming and scrambled to throw off their blankets. Asriel immediatly woke up and looked over at his sibling. Chara was gasping for breath and tears were in their eyes, making Asriel get out of his bed. Toriel and Asgore came into the room as well and Toriel immediatly bent down next to Chara's bedside. "Another nightmare my dear?" she asked.

Chara nodded and Toriel said, "I am sorry my child. Would you like Asgore to get you some tea?"

Chara nodded and Toriel sat on the bed near them. "I thought that your nightmares had gone down recently," she commented.

"It was different this time," Chara said, their voice trembling slightly.

"Oh? Do you want to talk about it?"

Asgore then returned with a steaming cup of tea. Chara took the tea and blew on it before taking a small sip. "I dreamt that you all turned to dust," they said. Everyone's eyes widened at that statement. Chara took another sip before they continued, "I was holding a knife and there was dust on my hands."

"Chara, would this have anything to do with the prophecy you asked me about earlier?" Asgore asked.

Toriel turned to him and asked, "You told them about the prophecy?"

"More or less. Chara, was your nightmare about the prophecy?"

Chara nodded and they shouted, "I don't want it to happen! I don't want to be the Angel of Death! I don't!"

"Oh, Chara," Asgore said. "Shh, it's alright. It was only a dream. You would never do that to us, would you?"

"No," Chara said.

"That's right. You are a good human, Chara. You would never do anything to harm us. Forget about that prophecy."

"Yeah!" Asriel exclaimed. "It could be about some other human, or it could be wrong! I know you wouldn't hurt us, Chara."

Chara sniffled and wiped their eyes, taking another sip of the tea. "I'm sorry," they said.

"You have nothing to apologize for my child," Toriel said. "Everyone has bad dreams."

Chara nodded and finished their tea, handing the cup back to Asgore. "Do you think you will be fine to sleep again?" Asgore asked.

Chara nodded and said, "I might knit for a bit, but yeah."

"Alright, goodnight you two," Toriel said as she and Asgore left the room.

"Wanna share a bed tonight?" Asriel asked. "I can grab your knitting stuff for you."

"Yes please," Chara said, scooting over and making room for Asriel. As they started to knit, they turned to their brother and said, "Can I tell you something?"

"Anything," Asriel said. "What's up?"

"This dream felt different from my other ones. It felt...more real."

"What do you mean?"

"This dream felt more real than the others. I know I haven't told you about my other dreams, but this one felt more real. Like it was something that could actually happen."

"But it won't Chara, you know that. You'll never hurt any of us. I know you wouldn't."

"Thanks Azzy. Another thing is that I didn't quite look like myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I had smaller eyes, and my cheeks weren't rosy. I was also wearing a pink and blue striped shirt."

"See, that couldn't have been you! You don't wear pink and blue! You don't have small eyes! And you wouldn't hurt us! There's no way that was you! I know it!"

Chara smiled and said, "Thank you for believing in me."

"What are siblings for?"


	13. Snowball Fights

"Brr, it's cold out here," Asriel said, rubbing his gloved hands together. He was wearing the gloves that Chara had given him for Christmas and was shivering slightly.

Chara giggled and said, "I don't know what you expected. It's snowing. At least you have fur." They were wearing a lime green beanie that they had knitted themselves. The two children were walking through Snowdin together, while fresh snow was falling from the ceiling somehow.

"Yeah, but it's still cold! How come you aren't cold?"

"I dunno." Chara looked around at the snow on the ground and said, "You know, I've never seen snow before."

"Really?"

"Mhmm. The first time I saw it was when you found me."

"Well, Snowdin is super fun! There's lots of things to do."

"If you're cold, we could go get some hot chocolate."

"Sounds good to me!" The two children ran through the crunchy winter snow and into a restaurant with an open sign in the window. The building had no label, so neither child knew the name of the restaurant, but they went in regardless.

Inside the restaurant were various monsters, sitting at tables or booths. Asriel went up to the bar and looked at the bartender. "Can we get two cups of hot cocoa?" the goat monster asked the bartender.

The bartender nodded and made two cups of hot chocolate, which both children eagerly took.. "How much?" Asriel asked.

"Nothing for you my prince," the bartender said. "It's on the house."

"I don't mind paying," Asriel insisted, pulling out some money.

The bartender shook their head and said, "I insist."

Asriel pouted somewhat at that but said nothing as he and Chara drank their hot chocolate, sitting at the bar. "What was that about?" Chara asked as the bartender went to attend to a different customer.

"Nothing, just forget it," Asriel said. "Wanna go play in the snow after we finish?"

Chara giggled and said, "I thought you were cold."

"Yeah, but this hot cocoa warmed me right up! I wanna go play in the snow."

"We can do that. Let's just finish our drinks first."

As the two children drank their hot chocolate, the door to the restaurant opened and a group of about six monsters ran in. Based on their small stature and the fact that they were all wearing some form of stripes on them showed that they were children. One of them, a wolf-like monster in a blue sweater with darker blue stripes, went up to the bar and said, "Barkeep! Can we get some hot chocolate?"

The bartender rolled their eyes and said, "I have a name, you know."

"Can we get some drinks or not?"

"Not unless you pay your guys' tab from the last several times you were here."

"Come on man, you know we're good for it!"

"Sorry, that's the rule."

The wolf-like monster growled under their breath before one of their friends, a smaller bear cub in a red hoodie with pink stripes, walked up to them. "Let's just start our game," the bear cub said in a feminine voice.

A third member of their group, a pink bunny in a purple and white striped zip up jacket, saw Chara and Asriel and walked over to them. "Haven't seen you two around here before," they said in a feminine voice. "My name's Fiona."

"Howdy there Fiona!" Asriel exclaimed. "My name's Asriel, and this is my sibling Chara!"

The entire group of monster children's eyes widened when Asriel said this and Fiona stuttered, "P-Prince Asriel. I'm sorry for not recognizing you sooner."

The wolf-like monster approached them and looked at Chara. "You must be the fallen human that the royal family adopted," they said in a gruff voice. "Forgive us for disturbing you."

Chara looked at the two monsters, confused by their actions while Asriel looked slightly embarrassed, his cheeks turning red. "Do you wanna come outside and play with us?" the bear cub asked.

The wolf-like monster hit the bear upside the head and said, "You idiot! You don't just ask the Prince of the Underground if he wants to play!" The wolf turned to Asriel and said, "Forgive her. She doesn't know what she's saying."

"Um, we wouldn't mind playing with you guys," Chara said. Asriel turned to them in shock and all of the other monsters looked at the human in shock as well.

"Are you sure?" the wolf asked. "We wouldn't want to disturb you two."

"No, we want to go with you guys. What are you guys doing?"

"We're gonna have a snowball fight!" the bear cub exclaimed.

"That sounds like fun. Right Azzy?"

"Um, yeah sure," Asriel said, a bit hesitant.

"Uh, okay," the wolf said. "We'll uh, wait for you guys to finish up. Come on you guys."

The group of monster children then left and Asriel said, "Chara, are you sure about this?"

"Why not? It's just a snowball fight with some other kids. It sounds like it might be fun."

"I guess so…"

"Come on Azzy. You've been telling me to open up more, and now I am! Let's go have some fun! That is, unless you're too much of a baby to come play." Chara said this last sentence in a joking manner and Asriel smiled at them.

"No, I'm a big kid," Asriel insisted, finishing off his hot chocolate. He ended up getting some on the fur above his mouth and Chara giggled at him.

"Well Mr. Big Kid, you have some hot cocoa on your fur."

Asriel laughed and wiped his mouth with his sleeve as he hopped off the bar stool. He and Chara went outside and saw the group of monster kids. All six of the kids stared at Chara and Asriel, who was still blushing intensely.

After almost a minute of awkward silence, the wolf monster said, "Alright, so we're gonna have a snowball fight. The owner of the restaurant gets mad when we play outside the place, so we'll have to go somewhere else."

The wolf monster lead the group away from the restaurant. Chara and Asriel were walking relatively close to him, while the others kept their distance from the royal children. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," the wolf monster said. "My name's Vic."

"It's nice to meet you Vic," Asriel said, trying to be as friendly as he could.

Eventually, Vic stopped outside of a large clearing. He turned around to face the other children and said, "Alright, here's the battlefield! Split up into two teams!"

The kids all split off into groups, and Chara and Asriel realized they were in two groups of three. "Guess we'll have to split up," Chara said.

"I don't want to Chara," Asriel said. "I wanna stay with you."

"Azzy, we need to play like they are. You'll be fine without me."

Chara then left Asriel to join one of the two groups, and Asriel reluctantly joined the other group. He saw that the bear cub monster and Fiona were his teammates, along with a monster that had been in the group that didn't approach Chara or him. In Chara's group was Vic and two other monster kids that hadn't approached them as well.

"We'll have a bit of time to build a wall to protect ourselves from the snowballs," Fiona explained to Asriel. The goat monster nodded and Fiona smiled at him. "Then let's start building!"

Fiona and the bear cub went to work on the left side of their snow wall, while the other monster worked on the center. "Go ahead and build up the right wall," the bear cub said to Asriel.

Asriel nodded and attempted to pack the snow like he saw them doing. After about five minutes, it was clear that Asriel's side of the wall left something to be desired. It was much lower than the rest of the wall and looked like it would fall apart any second.

"Ready?!" Vic called across the battlefield. The wall on their side was much more stable and looked like it could withstand quite a bit of damage.

"I guess we are," the third monster said, looking at Asriel. The prince tried to hide his face out of embarrassment and sat behind the wall.

"Then let's start!" Vic said, throwing a snowball. The snowball hit the side of the wall that Fiona and the bear cub had built and crumpled back into snow and fell to the ground.

All of the children started throwing snowballs, except for Asriel. The goat monster sat on the ground behind his part of the wall, hiding. "Come on Prince Asriel!" the bear cub exclaimed as she got hit in the arm by a snowball. "You gotta help us out!"

"Um, okay," Asriel said, reluctantly standing. He packed some snow into a ball and attempted to throw it at Vic, but the ball barely made it halfway to the other side before going to the ground.

"Not bad for your first time," Fiona said encouragingly. Asriel blushed more, clearly embarrassed, as Fiona got hit square in the face by a snowball. Asriel looked over to see who threw it and saw Chara with a strange look in their eyes. They were clearly enjoying themselves and seemed to be really good at the game, hitting their targets every time.

Asriel couldn't help but notice the slight blood lust in his sibling's eyes as they threw their next snowball hard, hitting the bear cub so hard in the face that they fell back. "Nice shot!" Vic exclaimed, high fiving Chara. The human looked over Asriel's team before locking eyes with Asriel himself.

Asriel immediatly ducked behind the wall, terrified of his sibling. He heard a loud thud as a snowball collided with his part of the wall and the wall crumpled back to the ground. Asriel turned to face the enemy team and saw as Chara threw a snowball with all of their might at him, hitting him square in the nose.

Asriel fell backwards and grabbed his nose, tears coming to his eyes. The snowball fight stopped as tears fell down Asriel's face and all of the children, including Chara, stared at him. "Are you alright Prince Asriel?" Fiona asked.

Asriel looked at all of the monster children staring at him, trying to hold back his tears, before a choked sob escaped his mouth. He stood and ran away as fast as his legs would take him. He continued running until he was in Waterfall. After running for a while, Asriel saw he was in a field of bridge seeds. He sunk to his knees and sobbed before he heard footsteps approaching him.

The prince looked up and saw Chara running towards him. "What do you want?" Asriel said, hiccuping back another sob.

"I didn't mean to hit you that hard," Chara said.

"Well you did! And it hurt!"

"Look, I'm sorry, alright?" Chara's apology didn't sound truly sincere if Asriel was being honest with himself, angering him.

"I told you I didn't want to play, but you didn't listen!"

"Is that why you're so upset?"

"Yes! I knew those kids would treat me differently! Everyone else does! Did you notice how nobody was throwing snowballs at me?! How when they knew who we were, they didn't want anything to do with me?! How that stupid barkeep wouldn't let us pay!"

"Why does that upset you so much?"

"It's because I'm the Prince! I'm the Prince and everybody treats me differently because of it! I hate it!" Another sob escaped Asriel's mouth as he said this, and Chara bent down to his level.

"Azzy, I didn't know you felt that way. I'm sorry monsters treat you differently because of who you are. But you shouldn't let that affect you. You know how they treat you, so why be mad about it? You can't change how they fell."

Asriel said nothing about this, and Chara placed a hand on his shoulder. "And for what's it's worth, I don't treat you differently," they added.

Asriel turned to look at his sibling as Chara continued, 'But, the reason I hit you with that snowball was to show you something. You're really sensitive Azzy. And believe me, I get that. But you can't cry about things like that. Big kids don't cry. If you want the other kids to stop treating you so differently, stop being such a crybaby. Show them that you are just a regular kid."

Asriel didn't detect the slightest bit of malice behind these words and smiled at his sibling. "I am kind of a crybaby, aren't I?" he asked, wiping his tears away.

Chara chuckled at him and said slightly jokingly, "Yeah, you are."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have forced you to play with the other kids. But I was trying to open up a bit more, you know?"

"Yeah, I saw. I was amazed."

Chara smiled at that and asked, "Next time though, how about it just stay you and me?"

The two of them hugged and Asriel said, "Sounds good to me."

**Couple quick author notes here. One of the reasons I wanted to write this chapter is to show how these two kids who spend so much time together and away from others their own age would react to being with other kids. I wanted to get Chara to open up more, which is why they are the ones to say yes. I also wanted to show how sensitive Asriel is. One final note is that the barkeep at the restaurant is not Grillby. They are at Grillby's restaurant, but the place is not called Grillby's yet and the barkeep is not Grillby. Grillby wouldn't have even been born at this time. The barkeep is just some random monster that owns the restaurant at this particular time.**


	14. Day With King Dad

A couple of days after their day in Snowdin, Chara woke up to hear Asriel sneezing. The human rolled over in bed and saw Asriel lying in his bed, sniffling. "Azzy, are you okay?" they asked.

Asriel sneezed again and said, "I don't think so. I feel icky. Can you go get Mom?"

Chara nodded and jumped off their bed, going to find Toriel. They found her sitting in her reading chair near the fireplace and tugged on her robes. Toriel looked down at them and said, "Good morning Chara. Is everything alright?"

"Asriel says he's feeling icky," Chara said, prompting Toriel to quickly rise from her chair. She rushed over to the bedroom the two children shared and Chara quickly followed them. When Toriel opened the door, Asriel was in the middle of a large sneezing fit and he groaned when it ended.

"Oh my child," Toriel said sympathetically, going to his bedside. She placed a paw on his forehead and said, "You're burning up my dear. I think you are sick."

Asriel nodded and Toriel said, "I will take care of you today, do not worry."

"Is Azzy okay?" Chara asked from the doorway.

"Oh, yes, he will be fine. He just has a slight cold. Most likely from your time in Snowdin. He will be fine though, do not worry."

Chara attempted to enter the room and Toriel quickly said, "Do not come in here though! I do not want you to get sick as well. I do not know how monster ailments would affect a human. Please stay away for a little while."

Chara nodded and continued to stand in the doorway, looking at their sibling. "I suppose you can be with Asgore for the day," Toriel said to Chara. "I am going to be busy for the day attending to Asriel. I'm sure Asgore would enjoy spending some time with you."

Chara nodded again and Toriel turned to her son. "I will be right back Asriel," she said as she left the room.

After some brief discussions with Asgore, it was decided he would take Chara for the day while Toriel watched Asriel. Chara stood outside the king's bedroom as he walked out to meet them. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, smiling at her. Rather than wear his standard royal garments, Asgore was wearing the pink sweater Chara had made him.

Chara looked questionably at the outfit and Asgore smiled at them. "This sweater you made is quite comfortable," he said. "Now come. We have some things we need to do today."

Asgore started walking out of the house, with Chara quickly following behind. As the two walked through New Home, all of the monsters they passed smiled happily and waved at the king. Asgore waved back at them and Chara remarked quietly, "You know a lot of people."

"Yes, I do. As King, I try to know each of my subjects. I believe the people should know who their King is, wouldn't you agree?"

Chara nodded their head and Asgore said, "I unfortunately have a town meeting today. I hope you do not mind sitting through it. It should not take long and we can get a treat after. But don't tell your mother."

Chara giggled at the last sentence as they and Asgore entered the town hall. Sitting at the table was a group of important looking monsters, and the head of the table was empty. All of the monsters saw Asgore enter and immediately stood and bowed.

Asgore waved them off with his paw and said, "Please, sit. I do not want this meeting to run too long."

"Um, your Majesty?" a female rabbit monster asked, looking at Chara.

"Hmm?" Asgore asked before realizing what she was talking about. "Oh, yes, right. Chara will be joining us today for this meeting while their mother and brother are busy. I hope this is fine with everyone."

There were murmurs of agreement from the monsters at the table and Asgore clapped his paws together and said, "Excellent! Let us get started then, shall we?"

A spare chair has been brought in for Chara, and by the time an hour has passed, the human was bored out of their minds. The meeting was still going on, and Chara had grown incredibly bored. As the monsters at the table began to discuss funding, Chara heard something that caught their attention.

"I do not see why more funding must be allocated to the building beside the Core," a green lizard monster said. "The only monsters who ever go there are the ones who work in the Core or those who need to get to New Home. It would be a waste of money."

Thinking about all of the times they had passed that area with Asriel, Chara said, "Um, excuse me."

Every monster turned to face the child, and Chara immediately regretted speaking. Asgore turned to them and asked, "Did you say something Chara?"

"Um, yes," Chara said, trying to calm their nerves. "Well, I've been through that area with my brother a few times, and, um, I can think of some ways that it can be improved. From what I've seen, the Core is very big and it's easy to get lost there. I've actually seen a couple monsters who got lost trying to get through it to get to New Home. So maybe, um, it could be a good idea to maybe install an elevator or something to take monsters straight through the Core to the end of it? That way they don't have to get lost or go somewhere they're not supposed to."

"That is actually a very good idea," Asgore said. "Someone make a note of that. Is there anything else you would like to add Chara?"

"Yeah!" the human said, getting their confidence. "The building right before the Core is kinda scary. It's just big and intimidating, and not a lot of monsters want to go through it. I've seen some monsters just stand outside it, scared to go to New Home because they don't want to go through the building. Maybe we can make it more inviting? That way other monsters can come to the Capital without fear."

"And what about the monsters from far away?" the rabbit monster from earlier asked. "I have some family who live in Snowdin, and they can never come and visit because it's such a long ways away. Maybe we could turn that building into a place for monsters to stay when they come to the Capital?"

"Like a hotel?" Asgore asked.

"Exactly like a hotel! That building is massive anyways. It's not like we don't have the space to make it a hotel. I think that's a wonderful idea!"

"Well then, all those in favor of turning the Core entrance into a hotel?"

Several of the monsters' hands shot up in the air, and Asgore smiled. "Excellent. Now, we shall continue this meeting some other time. We have gone on for quite some time and I am sure you would all like to rest. Good day."

Asgore stood from his seat and the other monsters started to say farewells as Asgore looked at Chara. "I apologize for the meeting running long," he said. "But I greatly appreciate your patience and your input. You have good ideas, young one."

Chara smiled at the compliment and Asgore said, "Come along. We still have the rest of the day together. Why don't we head home and have a cup of tea together?"

"That sounds fun."

* * *

Chara sat next to Asgore back at the castle, in the dining room together. Asgore had made them both a cup of Jasmine tea and they were both sipping their drinks together. "This tea is nice," Chara said. "You always give me a different one."

"Yes, I enjoy experimenting with my tea," Asgore said. "I do have a favorite however."

"Really? What is it?"

"It's something from the Surface. I haven't been able to have it in quite some time. The flowers required to brew it do not grow down here."

"Oh, I'm sorry. What flowers were they?"

"Golden Flowers. They were quite plentiful on the Surface when monsters still lived up there."

"Oh, I know those! Those are really pretty! They're my favorite!"

Asgore chuckled at this and said, "I am happy to find another flower enthusiast."

Chara took another sip of tea as Asgore stared at his cup longingly. "Can you tell me something?" the goat monster asked. "If you do not want to answer, I completely understand."

"What is it?"

"How is life on the Surface like now? It has been so long since I have seen the Surface, and most monsters have never seen it. Can you tell me what it's like up there?"

"Um…"

"If you do not feel comfortable answering, I completely understand. I apologize if I overstepped a boundary. I'm just a sentimental old man, thinking of the past. Do not mind me."

"It's bright."

Asgore looked at the human with a questioning glance and asked, "Bright?"

"Yeah, bright. It's much darker here in the Underground than it was on the Surface."

"Well that would make sense. We do not get direct sunlight down here after all, save for some cracks that allow wisps of sunlight to shine down."

"I like it more down here."

Asgore smiled at this and replied, "I am grateful. We have done our best to make you happy here, to let you join our family. I am grateful that you enjoy your life down here. I am sorry that your life above is over." Asgore then noticed that the human's tea cup was empty and said, "Oh my, we certainly have been talking for a while. You appear to have finished your tea. Is there anything else you would like to do today?"

Chara thought about the question before smiling and saying, "Yes, there is actually."

* * *

"Ready?" Asgore asked. Chara nodded to him and the king of monsters threw the red rubber ball across the flower patch in the throne room. Chara laughed as they ran to catch the ball, leaping forward. They tumbled onto the flowers as the ball landed in their arms, the human laughing as they fell.

"Excellent catch!" Asgore exclaimed as Chara threw the ball right back to him, landing their throw right at his chest. Chara ran back to him, panting with effort and Asgore laughed as he ruffled their hair.

"This has been so much fun!" Asgore said happily. "Today is a lovely day for a game of catch. Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. Perfect weather, is it not?"

"Yeah, it is," Chara said.

**Just some bonding with old Fluffybuns here, nothing muhc. I noticed that Chara doesn't seem to spend a lot of time with Asgore, and I wanted to remedy that situation with some cute fluff between goat dad and human child. Hope it was enjoyable!**


	15. Anniversary

"Where are we going Azzy?" Chara asked.

"It's a secret," Asriel said as the two children ran through the caverns of Waterfall. They were currently in the room with the light up mushrooms, and Chara was close by Asriel's side, not wanting to get lost.

They noticed that Asriel was going off the path and said, "Asriel, I think you're going the wrong way."

"No, I'm not. Trust me."

After going off the path, the two went to a new room. Chara felt something when they entered this place, but they couldn't quite describe what it was. "Where are we?" Chara asked.

"Temmie Village!" Asriel exclaimed.

Before Chara could question further, a creature ran up to the two children. It looked like a mix between a cat and a dog, with black hair and a blue shirt. "hOI!" it exclaimed. "im temmie! And dis is my friend, temmie! Welcome to TEM VILLAGE!"

Chara looked at the strange monster before noticing a picture behind it. The picture showed a Temmie and what appeared to be a sea monster of sorts. "Uh, hi Temmie," Chara said before sneezing as multiple Temmies surrounded the children. Asriel looked at his sibling in concern when they sneezed, but Chara brushed him off. "What's with the picture?"

"Oh, iz rich history of Tem!" the first Temmie exclaimed.

"Okay, so what is the history?"

"Iz rich history, very goods!"

Chara looked skeptically at the Temmie and asked, "You have no idea what it is, do you?"

The Temmie continued to smile and said, "Rich history, yaya!"

Chara sneezed again and Asriel asked, "Are you okay?"

"I think I might be allergic to Temmies," Chara said as they sneezed again.

"Oh, well we can leave if you want. I just wanted to show you this place."

Chara sneezed again and sniffled, sighing. "Yeah, let's leave."

The two of them left the Temmie Village and Chara asked, "Why did you want to show me that place?"

"Um, I just think it's neat! Don't you?"

"Well, it sure was something. Should we head back to the River Person?"

"No!" Chara looked at Asriel as he exclaimed this, and the young goat monster quickly said, "Um, I mean, it's such a nice day, why are you in such a rush to get home?"

"I just figured we would take the boat like we always do."

"Yeah, well, um, I wanna keep walking. Good exercise, right?"

"Yeah, sure," Chara said skeptically. "Lead the way."

Chara couldn't help but notice that, as they were walking together, Asriel was acting strange. He was normally very talkative and excited, but today he seemed rather tense and quiet. After walking back through the light up mushrooms, the two of them passed by Gerson's shop. "Azzy, I think we're going the wrong way," they said.

"No I'm not!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure New Home isn't this way."

"It's a shortcut! Trust me!"

"Okay, whatever you say."

The pair continued to walk until a familiar cold breeze blew on them. "Azzy, we're in Snowdin now!" Chara said. "I told you we were going the wrong way!"

"Oh, whoops," Asriel said, not sounding very convincing. Chara narrowed their eyes at him slightly and he said, "Well, look at the time! Mom and Dad probably want us home by now, huh? Come on!"

He then began to walk further into Snowdin and Chara asked, "What's going on Azzy? You're acting weird."

"What, no I'm not!"

"Yes you are! Stop lying to me! What's going on?"

Asriel sighed and said, "Fine, I'm hiding something from you. But I can't tell you what it is."

"Why not?!"

Chara's red eyes gleamed when they said this and Asriel quickly said, "Don't worry, it's nothing bad. It's a surprise. Come on, I'll show you."

Asriel continued walking into Snowdin and Chara followed beside him hesitantly until they reached the spot where the River Person usually was. Their boat was there and they turned their cloaked head towards the two children. "Tra la la," they said. "Care for a ride?"

The two stepped into the boat as Asriel said, "Hotland please."

They rode in the boat in silence, with Chara staring at Asriel. They didn't like secrets, and they knew that their brother was keeping something from them, even if he refused to say anything about it. Once they exited the boat and said farewell to River Person, they took the elevator back to New Home and arrived at their home relatively fast.

When they went inside the home, all of the lights were turned off. "Asriel, what's going on?" Chara asked, turning to where Asriel had been standing next to them. When they turned, they saw that there was nobody there and became concerned. "Asriel?" they asked. "Come out, this isn't funny!"

They reached for the light switch and turned on the lights. As they did, a cheerful, "SURPRISE!" was yelled out. Chara jumped back in shock as Toriel, Asgore and Asriel all came out from different hiding spots with smiles on their faces.

Seeing Chara's shock, Toriel quickly went to them and said, "I am sorry for startling you my child, but this was supposed to be a surprise."

"A surprise?" Chara asked, confused. "What's going on?" They noticed the hats that the goat monsters wore on their heads, pointed ones made out of paper with straps on their chins. They saw thin strips of multi colored paper decorating the walls and a large banner that read, "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!" written in crayon.

"Today's your anniversary party!" Asriel exclaimed happily. Chara looked at him confused and he said, "We didn't know when your birthday was, so we decided to celebrate today! Today is the day you came down here a year ago!"

Chara thought about the date and realized that he was right. It really had been an entire year since they came to the Underground. "I don't get it," Chara said confusedly. "What's with the decorations?"

"My child, this is a party for you!" Toriel said happily, holding out a cone hat like the ones that the monsters were wearing.

"For me?"

"Yes, like a birthday party!" Asgore said happily. "You have had a birthday party, haven't you?"

Chara shook their head and all three of the monsters looked at them with sympathy. "Well, a birthday party is supposed to celebrate the day you were born," Asgore explained. "But since we did not know when you were born, we decided to celebrate on the day you joined our family!"

"Do ya like it?" Asriel asked excitedly.

Chara looked around the room at all of the decorations, then at the smiling Dreemurrs. They then took the hat from Toriel and put it on their head, smiling happily. "I love it," they said.

The family all celebrated for the rest of the day, happy and cheerful. Asgore had explained to Chara that he knew they wouldn't want anything too big, which is why only their family was at the party. Chara was extremely grateful for this and thanked him profusely. After a few celebrations, Toriel went into the kitchen and emerged with a chocolate cake, Chara's favorite.

They saw the lit candles on the cake and asked, "What do I do with those?"

"You blow them out and make a wish!" Asriel exclaimed.

Chara looked at the candles and thought for a moment before smiling and blowing them out. "What did you wish for?" Asgore asked.

"Nothing," Chara said.

"Nothing?"

"Nope. I don't have anything to wish for. Everything's perfect."

Everyone thought that sentiment was sweet, and Asriel even said, "Awww!" Chara responded by taking a bit of the cake and smushing it on Asriel's snout, earning a laugh from the young prince.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, throwing a piece of cake at Chara. The cake hit them in the face and they laughed as a food fight broke out between the two children.

"Children, please settle down," Toriel said as the two children continued to laugh and fight. She was then hit in the muzzle by a bit of cake and looked at the children. They both held up their hands innocently and looked at Asgore, who was whistling under his breath.

"Oh, is that how it is?" she asked, scooping some of the cake off of her face before going to her husband. "Gorey, dearest, I believe you have something on your face."

"Where?" he asked, feeling his face.

"Right here!" Toriel said as she let the cake in her hand hit Asgore in the face. He laughed and began to fight back, resulting in an all out food war between the four family members. Chara looked at the scene and couldn't help but laugh. Asriel had somehow managed to get cake on his ears, Toriel was squealing as Asgore picked her up, and Asgore had bits of cake stuck in his beard.

"I love you guys."

**Sorry for taking so long to update. I had a bunch of notes written for what I wanted to do with this chapter, but then I somehow managed to lose those notes, so I had to restart this chapter from scratch. Hope you all enjoyed it!**


	16. Creepy Face

One night, Chara and Asriel were having a sleepover together. Or, rather, they had been allowed by Toriel to stay up late with the promise of no school the next day and were free to do as they wished that night. Neither child had ever had a proper sleepover, but Chara knew at least something about how human children typically enjoyed these types of nights.

At that moment, the two children were sitting underneath the cover of Asriel's bed, with Chara holding a flashlight over their face. Asriel had a bowl of popcorn in his lap and was eating some as Chara told a scary story. The young ghost monster was shaking slightly as his sibling spun a creepy story, with the flashlight illuminating their face.

"...and then, the child looked into the abyss, hoping to find someone to save them," Chara said, turning their face away from Asriel.

Chara went silent for a moment and Asriel asked cautiously, "C-chara?" His paws were shaking and he was doing his best to be brave.

Chara then spun around quickly, their eyes completely blacked out. Their mouth appeared to be dripping with a black liquid as they yelled out, "But nobody came!"

Asriel screamed out and jumped, spilling popcorn all over the bed. Chara was doing an evil laugh as Asriel hid his face. The human's face returned to normal and they began to giggle at Asriel's terror.

Asriel eventually unhid himself and laughed with Chara. "Golly, that sure was a creepy face you did!" he exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"I dunno," Chara responded. "Was it a good story though?"

"It was! You sure know how to tell a creepy story!"

Chara giggled again and said, "Thanks. We should probably clean up the bed before Mrs. Queen Mom gets mad at us."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Let's clean up."

* * *

The next afternoon, Chara was sitting on their bed, knitting something when Asriel came in. "Look what Mom just gave me!" he exclaimed, holding up an old video camera with the lens cap on. "She said we can go out and play with it. Come on!"

Chara hopped off the bed, knitting abandoned as they chased after their brother. The two children ran through New Home until they reached Hotland. "Where are we going exactly?" Chara asked.

"Waterfall!" Asriel exclaimed. "There's a really nice place where we can play with the camera!"

The two rode with River Person ("The water is very wet today.") and got off at Waterfall. "Follow me," Asriel said. He led Chara to a patch of Echo Flowers, but continued waking. Eventually, they came across a small hill that overlooked the flowers, but wasn't close enough for them to be heard.

"This is really pretty," Chara said. "I love how the Underground looks."

"Mhmm! Dad says the Surface is really pretty too though…"

Chara could see Asriel's face fall and said, "Oh, it's not that nice. I like it down here more."

"Really? You don't miss anything about the Surface? What about your family?"

Chara shook their head and looked off until the distance. Asriel knew they weren't going to get any more out of them, so he turned his attention to the camera.

"I still wanna play with this camera though," he said. "But what can we do with it?" The young goat monster then remembered what Chara had shown him the previous night and said, "I know! Chara, can you do your creepy face?"

"I don't know…" they hesitated."I don't like showing my face on cameras. You know that."

"Come on Chara? Please?"

Chara looked at Arial and saw he still had the lens cap on the camera. They smiled, knowing he didn't realize this, and said, "Okay, I'll do it."

"Yay! Let me turn the camera on." Asriel pushed the record button, still not realizing the lens cap was on.

"Okay, Chara, are you ready? Do your creepy face!"

Chara made the same face they made last night, with their eyes turning black and they let it an evil laugh.

"AHHHHHH!" Asriel exclaimed, jumping back. Chara's face returned to normal and they both giggled, "Hee hee hee!"

Asriel looked at the camera and said, "Oh! Wait! I had the lens cap on…"

"Well, oh well," Chara said. "That's that I guess."

"What?! You're not gonna do it again…? Come on, quit tricking me! Haha!"

Asriel turned off the camera and looked at Chara, who was staring out at the field of Echo Flowers. "Chara, can I ask you something?" he asked.

"What is it?"

"Why did you climb the mountain…?"

Chara turned to him and asked, "" What?!"

" Why did you climb the mountain Chara? Don't the humans know we're down here! Why did you come here? It's been over a year and you still haven't said…"

"It's not important," Chara said bluntly.

"But-"

"It doesn't matter Azzy," they said, cutting their brother off. "I'm here now, and that's all that matters."

"Why won't you tell us? Was it something bad?"

Chara sighed and looked out at the flowers, not wanting to face their brother. "I didn't climb the mountain for a happy reason. That's all I want to say."

Asriel said nothing and Chara figured he was done with the subject. They were surprised when he wrapped his arms around them in a hug. They wiped a tear from their eye that they hadn't realized came and sighed.

"Don't tell Mister King Dad or Mrs. Queen Mom, okay?" they asked Asriel, not moving from the hug. "I don't want them to worry."

"Alright," Asriel said, nuzzling his face against Chara's. "I'm sorry you came here for not happy reasons. But I hope you're happier now then you were up there. If you never want to say why you can't down here, I get it. I'll stop pushing you. But I just want you to be happy. We all do. Me, Mom, Dad, all the monsters down here. We just want you to be happy Chara."

Chara sighed again, their red eyes still staring out at the field of Echo Flowers.

"I am."

**Okay, so I kinda wanna try and keep the reason that Chara climbed Mt. Ebbott vague if possible. I know that Asriel says that he knew why they climbed the mountain at the end of the True Pacifist playthrough, but I want to keep the reason vague since part of the reason Asriel never truly says why in the game is so that players can make their own interpretations. Whatever reason people want to believe Chara climbed the mountain is up to them, and I don't want to say one definitive reason for them climbing the mountain. It could have been multiple things, multiple factors, but that is up for the player of the game to decide for themselves. Same goes for Frisk. However you want to interpret the reason these two humans climbed the mountain is up to you, the player, to decide for yourself.**


	17. Pie

"Children, can you please come out here?"

Asriel and Chara left their bedroom and walked over to Toriel's chair, where she was sitting and reading a book. "What's up Mom?" Asriel asked.

"As I am sure you two know, your father's birthday is coming up very soon. It is tomorrow in fact."

Both children nodded, although Chara nodded a bit more hesitantly. They had honestly forgotten when Asgore's birthday was. "Now, I am going to need to go into town to get some last minute things for his present. Will you two be alright on your own for a little while?"

"Sure Mom!" Asriel exclaimed. "Can we make something for Dad too?"

Toriel smiled and said, "I'm sure he would love that. Just be careful please."

"We will. Bye Mom!"

Once Toriel left the house, Asriel asked Chara, "What should we make Dad?"

"Well, he really likes Mrs. Queen Mom's pies, right?"

"He does! He loves her butterscotch cinnamon pie. We could make that. Plus, I could practice my fire magic that way!"

"Do you know where she keeps the recipes?"

"I'm pretty sure she keeps them in her study. Come on!"

The two children ran into Toriel's study, where they found a bookshelf, a cactus, a desk and a trash can. Chara looked on the desk and saw that there was a joke book on it and smiled. "Anything on the desk?" Asriel asked as he started to look through the bookshelf.

"Nope, just a joke book."

"I think I got something here." Chara went over to their brother and saw what he had pulled off the bookshelf. It was an old cook book that appeared to be lightly waterlogged. "I think this is it. She might have gotten it from the Dump."

They both flipped through the book and Chara said, "Wait!" They flipped back a few pages and saw a recipe for butterscotch cinnamon pie. "There it is!"

"Cool! Let's get started!"

The two ran into the kitchen with the cookbook and Chara flipped it open to the pie recipe. "I think Mom has some pie crust in the fridge," Asriel said, digging through the fridge until he pulled out a cold pie crust.

"So the recipe says that the pie dough needs to be warmed up in the oven," Chara read from the book.

"I don't know how to use the oven. Mom and Dad never do."

"Well, you said you wanted to practice your fire magic. Go ahead and try it!"

The two children shaped the pie dough so that it fit into a pie dish and Asriel held the dish in his paws. He took a deep breath and concentrated as he felt his paws warm up slightly. After a minute of trying, his paws lit up with an orange glow as the dish began to heat up.

"I did it!" he exclaimed as he continued to heat the dish. "How long does it say I need to do this?"

"Um, about forty minutes."

"I can't hold this that long!"

"Just do it as much as you can. I'm sure it'll be fine."

Asriel nodded and continued to concentrate on his fire magic. He was able to hold it for about ten minutes before he sighed and his magic went away. "Sorry," he said.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. Now, let's make the inside."

"Okay, what do we need for that?"

"It says we need a teaspoon of cinnamon."

"What's a tea spoon?"

"Hmm...maybe the spoons that Mr. King Dad uses when he makes tea?"

"Oh, I know where those are!" Asriel went into one of the drawers and pulled out a large spoon. "Here we go!"

Chara smiled and took the spoon as they scooped out a large portion of cinnamon. They poured the cinnamon into a bowl and said, "Okay, next we need to add the butterscotch."

"On it!" Asriel went into another cupboard and grabbed a large bag of butterscotch chips. He went over to the bowl and poured out a large portion of the butterscotch. "What's next?"

"We need to add…butter cups?"

"Huh?"

"Here, look!" Chara showed the book to Asriel. "It says we need to add 2 butter cups."

"How do we do that?"

"Oh! Maybe it means to add flowers! Like the buttercups Mr. King Dad grows in the garden!"

"Okay! Let's go pick some flowers!"

* * *

Once the two managed to gather their ingredients together and Asriel semi successfully heated the ingredients to combine them, they poured the batter into the pie.

"Children, I'm home!" Toriel called out as she entered the house.

"We're in the kitchen Mom!" Asriel called. The older goat monster went into the kitchen and couldn't help but giggle at the scene. The kitchen was incredibly messy, and Chara and Asriel were covered in sticky pie filling.

"Goodness, what happened here?" Toriel asked.

"We made a pie for Dad!" Asriel exclaimed happily, pointing to the pie on the kitchen counter. It definitely was not a pretty looking pie, but it at least looked semi edible.

"How lovely," Toriel said. "Why don't I put the pie in the fridge and help you two wash up? You have both made quite a mess."

"Sorry Mrs. Queen Mom," Chara said.

"Do not be sorry my child. I will clean up in here after I help you two wash up. This was a very thoughtful present for your father. Tell me, where did you get the recipe?"

"One of the cookbooks in your study," Asriel explained. "I helped cook it with my magic!"

"Oh my, that is very impressive Asriel. You know, I don't normally use the recipes in those books."

"You don't?"

Toriel shook her head and said, "I collected those books quite some time ago and merely used the recipes for inspiration. My own recipe is known only to me. I can teach both of you it some other time. But I am sure that this recipe will taste lovely. Now, why don't you both help me finish preparing the other gift I have gotten your father?"

* * *

Asgore came home a few hours later to a very cheerful, "Happy early Birthday!" from his family. He laughed heartily at this as his two children ran up to him.

"Dad, we made something for you for your birthday!" Asriel exclaimed.

"Did you now?" Asgore asked. "But my birthday isn't until tomorrow."

"We couldn't wait! Now come on, have some!"

The small goat monster ran into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later with a large slice of pie Toriel had cut earlier. "You made a pie?" Asgore asked, slightly shocked.

"We know you like Mrs. Queen Mom's pies," Chara said. "So we wanted to make you one ourselves. We didn't use her recipe though. We found one in an old cookbook."

"I am sure it will taste just as fine," Asgore said as he took the slice of pie. He sat down at his spot at the dining table and grabbed a spoon. He scooped a bite of the pie slice into his mouth and tried his best not to grimace.

Asriel and Chara both looked at him with anticipation as he tried his best to not look completely disgusted. "What do you think Dad?" Asriel asked excitedly.

Asgore managed to choke down a bite of the pie and said, "It certainly tastes...interesting." Seeing the eager look on both children's faces, Asgore choked down a few more bites until he finished about half the slice. "I think I might eat more later though. I do not want to spoil my dinner after all."

Toriel smiled and said, "As a matter of fact, dinner is ready right now. Why don't I get it for us now?"

The family all ate dinner together, but Asgore felt ill throughout the meal. He tried his best to look as though he was fine, but Toriel could see that something was wrong. After they finished eating, Asriel asked, "Dad, are you gonna have some more pie?"

"Um, I don't think so son," Asgore said.

"Why not?"

"I don't feel very well right now. I think I might go lay down for the night."

Once Asgore pushed his chair away from the table and attempted to stand, he faltered slightly and had to grip his chair. "Gorey?" Toriel asked, rushing to her husband's side.

"I'm fine Tori," he said as he tried to walk to the bedroom. Once he let go of the chair, he faltered again though and Toriel quickly helped him stand.

"Gorey, I don't think you are alright," Toriel said, concern in her tone.

"I think you are right my dear," Asgore said. "I feel ill. Help me to the room?"

Toriel nodded and helped Asgore walk to the bedroom. As they moved, Toriel turned to the children and asked, "Will you two please help out and put the dishes in the sink?"

Both children nodded as Asgore and Toriel left the room. "What do you think happened?" Chara asked.

"Maybe we did something wrong," Asriel said, sounding very concerned. "I hope it wasn't our pie."

"It couldn't have been! We followed the recipe!"

"I hope Dad's alright…"

* * *

That night, Toriel did not come to tick the two children in like she always did. She stayed with Asgore the entire night, tending to him. Asriel and Chara both had a rough night, both concerned about their father. Chara managed to get some sleep in after exhausting themselves with their knitting, but Asriel remained awake the entire night.

The next morning, both children left their bedroom and went to Toriel and Asgore's bedroom. Asriel hesitantly knocked on the door and Toriel answered it. "Hello there you two," she said, trying not to sound concerned. "I am sorry I was not there for you last night."

"Is Dad alright?" Asriel asked, not wanting to beat around the bush.

Toriel sighed and said, "Your father had a very rough night last night. He did not get much sleep and was rather ill throughout the night."

"Is he gonna be okay?" Chara asked.

Toriel looked back at the bedroom and did not look at the children as she said, "I do not know."

"Can we see him?" Asriel asked.

"I am not sure. He is still rather ill and I do not want you two to see him like that."

"Tori?" Asgore called from the room, his voice sounding weak and strained. "Is that Asriel and Chara? Let them in."

Toriel sighed and moved out of the doorway to let the children in. When they both saw Asgore, tears immediately sprung to Asriel's eyes. The once brave and mighty King Asgore looked weak and pale, even with his white fur. His fur was wet with sweat and he looked miserable, but he still smiled when he saw the children.

"Hello there you two," he said, attempting to sound cheery but still sounding incredibly weak. He attempted to sit up in bed, but Toriel quickly rushed to him and gently nudged him down.

"Dad…" Asriel said, sounding close to crying.

"Gorey, you should rest a bit more," Toriel said. "You hardly slept at all last night."

Asgore looked at her and said, "I'm fine Torey, really. I want to spend time with our children."

Toriel nodded and said, "I do not know what could have caused you to become so ill. The only thing you ate was my dinner and the childrens' pie."

"Yes, the pie…"

Toriel quickly turned to Asriel and Chara and asked, "Children, be honest with me, did you follow that recipe exactly? Did you make any alterations to it in any way?"

"No, we didn't," Chara said somewhat defensively.

"Well, we didn't hear the dough as long as the recipe said…" Asriel interjected.

"Hmm, that might cause him to have some issues, but not to this extent. Tell me exactly what you put into the pie."

"Cinnamon, butterscotch, buttercups-" Asriel started.

"What?!" both Toriel and Asgore exclaimed. Asgore coughed after yelling and Toriel's eyes widened.

"You added buttercups to the pie?!" Toriel exclaimed, frightening Chara and Asriel slightly. The queen never raised her voice, so her almost yelling was certainly scary. "What on Earth made you think that was a good idea?"

"It's what the recipe said," Chara said.

Toriel instantly knew the problem and said, "Children, that meant cups of butter. With a measuring cup. Buttercups are poisonous!"

"P-poisonous?" Asriel asked, almost crying at this point.

"Yes, poisonous. I need to know, right now, how many buttercups were in that pie?"

"Just two," Asriel quickly said. "The recipe said to add two butter cups."

Everyone's attention then turned to Chara as they began laughing. "We used buttercups instead of cups of butter," they said as they laughed.

"Chara, this is not a laughing matter!" Toriel scolded. "This is serious! You could have seriously hurt Asgore, or worse! I know you two were just trying to do a kind gesture, but you could have killed him!"

Asriel began to sob at this and Chara said, "I'm sorry."

Their voice did not sound sincere as they apologized and Toriel noticed it. "Chara, you and Asriel both need to go to your room and think about your actions. I am very disappointed with both of you."

"But it was just an accident!" Chara exclaimed.

"I understand that, but your actions have consequences. Both of you go to your room now."

Asriel nodded and began to walk out of the room, but Chara was livid. They pushed past Asriel as they ran out of the room.

"Chara!" Toriel called out as the door to the house slammed shut.

The human was gone.


	18. Forgive Me

Chara didn't have an end in sight. They just needed to get away from there. From that house. So they ran. And they kept running. Even when their lungs burned and their vision began to blur, they continued to run.

"_Nuisance!_"

"_Pest!_"

"_Waste of space!_"

"_Who even needs you?_"

"_Stop crying like a baby!_"

"_Freak._"

"_Trouble maker._"

"_Ungrateful brat._"

"_Monster._"

"NO!" Chara screamed. They stopped running as tears fell down their cheeks and they slammed their fists into the ground. They looked down and saw that they were in a field of buttercups. Their hands were shaking as they sobbed out loud, falling to their knees.

They sat on their hands and knees for they didn't even know how long, sobbing and pounding the flowers. They looked down at the flowers and choked back another sob.

They thought about the monsters that had taken them in. Smiling Asriel, always timid but excited. Kind, generous Toriel. And mighty, strong Asgore. Although, he wasn't so strong anymore.

How could they have been so stupid?! They knew how to read just fine! They should have seen the space and known what to do! They might have killed Asgore…

Chara looked down at the buttercups underneath them and picked one. They examined the flower before closing their eyes. They began to bring the flower to their mouth and-

"Chara?"

Chara opened their eyes at the familiar voice, but still held the flower. Asriel came running up to them as the human wiped their eyes with their sleeve.

"I thought I'd find you here," Asriel said as he looked around the edge of the Ruins. He held out a paw and said, "Mom and Dad are concerned for you."

Chara turned away from Asriel and said coldly, "Leave me alone."

"Chara, it's alright. Mom said that she overreacted a bit. Come on."

Chara still wouldn't face him and Asriel sighed. "We really messed up, didn't we?" he asked.

"'We'?" Chara asked defensively, still not facing Asriel. "There is no 'we'. I was the one who said to add buttercups. I was the one who said that we should add flowers from the garden. I was the one who killed Asgore!"

They yelled the last sentence as they pounced the flowers beneath them again. Their breath was shaky as they tried not to cry. They said in a whisper so quiet it was almost inaudible, "I killed Asgore."

"Chara, you weren't the only one responsible," Asriel insisted. "We're both at fault here. It's both of our fault. But Mom said that Dad won't die! He didn't eat nearly enough for that to happen! He's just gonna be sick and weak for a bit."

At these words, Chara laughed a bit and asked, "Really?"

"Yes, really! Now please come home with me. Mom gets nervous when we come to the Ruins without her, especially the edge."

Chara laughed again as they looked up at the hole that they had fallen through. "Why do you guys keep me?" they asked, their voice soft.

Asriel tilted his head to the side and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Why do you guys even let me stay here with you? I'm nothing but a pest. A nuisance. A thing that nobody asked for."

"Chara, that's not true! We love you! We love having you with us!"

"But why? What did I do to deserve happiness? To deserve mercy?"

"Everyone deserves to be happy Chara. Everyone deserves kindness. To be loved and cared for. To be wanted. _You_ deserve those things Chara."

Chara laughed once again and shook their head. "I don't understand," they said. "I don't understand. I just don't understand."

They got up off the ground without Asriel's help and dropped the buttercup in their hand. "Let's head home," they said.


	19. Barrier

It took several weeks, but Asgore slowly got better. Toriel was at his bedside throughout it all, with Asriel and Chara checking up on him constantly. Both apologized profusely, and Toriel did as well. She and Asgore both agreed she had been a little harsh with her words when the king first got sick.

While Asgore was sick, Asriel and Chara did their best to take care of the flowers in the throne room, but they tried their best to avoid the buttercups.

One day, Asriel ran down to the throne room with his watering can, looking for his human sibling. "Chara?" he called out. "Are you there?"

He saw that Chara had placed their watering can on Toriel's throne and sighed, knowing where they were. They walked out of the throne room into the final hall before the Barrier. He took a deep breath before walking towards the Barrier.

Chara stood at the edge of the Barrier, staring at it. The shield was so thick that it was impossible to see the outside world beyond it. Chara stared at the magic shield, their face expressionless.

"Chara?" Asriel asked. "You've been spending a lot of time down here. Is everything alright?"

"Do you ever think about what's on the other side of this thing?" Chara asked, not facing their brother.

"Oh, all the time! Mom and Dad always talk about how beautiful the sun is, how nice it looks as it goes down and turns into night. How the night sky is much more than just rocks on a ceiling."

"Do you ever think about the _people_ beyond the Barrier?"

Asriel noticed the venom with which they spoke the word 'people' and said, "W-well, I guess a bit. Golly, they sure would be confused, huh? We've been down here so long, nobody even knows we're here anymore, huh?"

"Everyone up there has said monsters aren't real. That they're just something that hide in your closet to snatched up bad kids who misbehave. That bad kids deserve to go to them. 'Go live with the monsters you demon. It's where you belong.'"

Asriel saw the look of anger in Chara's eyes as they said this and said nothing. When he didn't speak, Chara continued. "It's not fair, you know? Monsters are nothing but kind and sweet and full of love. They deserve to be the ones up there on the Surface. Not the awful humans who trapped you all down here. They deserve to rot."

"Chara?" Asriel asked, concerned.

"Azzy, do you know if it's possible to break the Barrier? To set the monsters free?"

"Dad talked about it a few times with us, didn't he? He said it had something to do with Soul power. Seven wizards sealed us down here with a magic spell, so we would need a power equal to seven human Souls to break the Barrier."

"And a monster soul isn't powerful enough, is it?"

Asriel shook his head, although he wasn't sure if Chara could see this. "All of the Souls of everyone in the Underground would barely be equal to one human Soul. Monsters just aren't strong enough."

"Do you know how to leave the Barrier? Mr. King Dad said my Soul isn't powerful enough to leave on my own."

"In order to cross the Barrier, you need a human Soul and a monster Soul. You don't want to leave, do you Chara?"

Chara finally turned to face him and he saw a gleam in their eyes. He wasn't sure what it was, and it went away almost as soon as he saw it.

"Nah, I was just wondering. Come on, let's head back."

Chara then went back to the throne room, with Asriel following behind them. He couldn't help but notice as they watered the flowers how his sibling was staring at the buttercups intensely.

**We're slowly starting to reach the end game of this fic and I'm very excited. Sorry for the shortness of this chapter and the previous one, but the next few are going to be whoppers, trust me. **


	20. A Plan

Ch. 20: A Plan

Several months later, and the pie incident had been practically forgotten. The family celebrated Asriel's 10th birthday and Christmas together with smiles all around. Life had returned to normalcy.

Despite everything though, Asriel noticed something with Chara. Over the months, he noticed they were being more drawn in and introverted. He wished that they would talk to him and whatever was bothering them, but they always refused and said that they were fine.

One day, the two were sitting in the Dump. Asriel had brought the video camera with him and Chara had brought a picnic basket. Toriel had packed them both a lunch and the two set up a picnic in the Dump together.

Chara ate a bite of their lunch as Asriel fiddled with the camera. He held it in one paw and aimed it at his sibling, snickering to himself. "Howdy, Chara!" he exclaimed, pointing the camera at the human. "Smile for the camera!"

Chara looked at him and saw that the lens cap had been left on again. They gave Asriel a big smile and he said, "Ha, this time I got YOU! I left the cap on… ON PURPOSE! Now you're smiling for no reason!"

Asriel started to laugh, and Chara began to laugh with him. They then looked down at the buttercups they were having their picnic on and picked one, twirling it absentmindedly. "Hey Azz, you remember the last time we picked these flowers?" they asked him, staring at the flower.

"What?" Asriel asked, slightly confused before realizing what his sibling was talking about. "Oh, yeah, I remember. When we tried to make butterscotch pie for Dad, right?"

Chara nodded and their smile faded at the memory. Asriel's did as well as he recalled, "The recipe asked for cups of butter...But we accidentally put in buttercups instead."

Chara chuckled a bit at their foolishness and asked, "He didn't take it that well, did he?"

Asriel laughed a bit at this and said, "Yeah! Those flowers got him really sick." The goat monster's face then fell as he said, "I felt so bad. We made Mom really upset. I should have laughed it off, like you did…"

Chara continued to twirl the buttercup in their fingers and said, "Heh, yeah."

Asriel looked at his sibling and asked, "Um, anyway, where are you going with this?"

"Turn off the camera."

Asriel looked at Chara questionably and they repeated in the same blunt tone, "Turn off the camera."

"Huh?" Asriel asked. "Turn off the camera…? Okay."

Asriel pushed the off button on the camera and asked, "Chara, what's going on?"

"I have a plan," the human said. "A plan to free everyone. For monsters to be free."

Asriel caught the strange tone in Chara's voice and asked hesitantly, "What exactly are you planning?"

"Now, you need to promise me that what I say next is going to be kept between us. Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know."

"Chara?"

"Promise me."

"I-" Asriel cut himself off, trying to stop the tears from forming in his eyes. "I promise."

"Good. Now, we know that a monster Soul isn't powerful enough to cross the Barrier. Neither is a human Soul. You need both, right?"

"Uh huh…" Asriel said, not liking where the conversation was heading.

"What if _you_ tried to cross the Barrier? You could take my Soul, cross the Barrier, then get six more Souls from the humans. Then, the monsters could be free."

"But Chara, monsters can't absorb the Souls of living humans. You know that. How would I take your Soul?"

"What if I wasn't alive?"

"WHAT?!" Asriel jumped back at Chara's suggestion and looked at them in shock. "Chara, you can't be serious!"

"I am. Asriel, if I die, you could take my Soul and free them all! Everyone could be free, and you would be a hero!"

"But what about you?!"

"What about me?!"

Asriel flinched at Chara's sudden outburst, but the human quickly collected themselves and asked, "What about me? If it means you guys are all happy and free, I'm willing to die for that."

"Chara, this is crazy! How do you even know it's going to work?"

"Mr. King Dad got really sick from those buttercups right? And Mrs. Queen Mom said that buttercups are poisonous. If I ate enough, I could die and you could take my Soul. It'll just look like I got really sick. Mr. King Dad told us that humans can't absorb monster Souls, but monsters can absorb human Souls. But not every monster can handle the power of a human Soul. Only Boss Monsters can. It has to be you Azzy. You have to be the one to do it."

Asriel shifted and bumped the camera, turning the device back on. Neither child noticed this as tears came to Asriel's eyes and he tried to hold them back. "I...I don't like this idea Chara."

"You're crying, aren't you?" Chara asked in a condescending tone.

"Wh..what? N-no, I'm not…" Asriel sniffled and wiped away his tears. "...big kids don't cry."

"Asriel, this is the only way for you guys to be free."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Then why are you so worked up about this? Are you doubting me? Do you think I'd lie to you about this?"

"No! I'd never doubt you, Chara…Never!"

"Monster kind deserves to go free Asriel. You guys don't deserve to be down here. Those humans have to pay for what they did to your kind. They deserve it. And we'd be strong, and brave! We'd be heroes."

"Y...yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone. I'll go get the flowers."

Asriel then stood and bumped the camera again, turning the device off. "We'll free everyone…" he said to himself as he began to pick some buttercups. Chara nodded and put away their picnic before helping him pick some too.

"We'll be strong…"

* * *

The two picked buttercups for over an hour until they were sure they had enough. They had even snuck back to the palace and stolen some from Asgore's garden as well. "Think this is enough?" Asriel asked as he looked at their picnic basket. The basket was almost overflowing with yellow flowers that the two children had picked.

"This should be fine," Chara said, placing the basket down.

"So how are we going to do this?"

"I'm going to eat these flowers. Then, I'll get sick. If I eat enough, I'll die. Once I die, my Soul will linger for just a few moments outside my body. You need to take my Soul as soon as you see it and absorb it. If you wait too long, it'll fade away. Once you take my Soul, cross the Barrier and gather six more Souls from the humans."

"What if Mom and Dad catch me? What do I say?"

"I have a solution for that too. When I'm sick, I can tell them that I want to see the Golden Flowers in the human village I came from. They'll know that that's impossible. So, when I die, take my body with you. Take it to my village and lay it down in a bed of flowers. Then, take six Souls from the humans in that village."

Asriel looked at the basket that Chara was carrying, the weight of the flowers weighing him down even though he wasn't the one holding them. "Alright, if you're sure…" he said hesitantly.

Chara nodded and took the first flower out. They crammed the entire thing into their mouth and their face twisted. "Bitter," they said as they chewed and swallowed the flower. They continued to eat more flowers until they were about halfway through the basket.

They began to sway on their feet and feel dizzy as they continued to eat the flowers. "Maybe we should stop Chara," Asriel said as he watched in horror while his sibling consumed more buttercups.

Chara shook their head and mumbled, "I'm fine." They continued to eat, eventually sitting down due to how dizzy they felt. Their eyes had begun to puff up and they wheezed as they struggled to breathe. After the last flower was finished, they looked up Asriel, who had tears in his eyes yet again.

"Finished," they said before collapsing onto the ground.

"Chara!" Asriel exclaimed, rushing to their sibling's side. He began to weep as he screamed out, "MOM! DAD! COME QUICK!"


	21. Sickness

Ch. 21: Sickness

**Warning for depictions of blood and other symptoms of buttercup poisoning. I changed the rating for this story to a T rating to avoid getting in trouble, but we'll see.**

"Asriel?!" Toriel called as she and Asgore ran into the throne room. They both gasped as they saw their son standing over Chara's body, weeping. "Asriel, what is going on?!" Toriel asked.

"It's Chara," Asriel said through his tears. "They're sick. I-I don't know what happened, bu-but they just collapsed!"

Both parents immediately rushed over to the children and Asgore bent down to look at Chara. The human had saliva dripping down their chin and Asgore cautiously picked them up. "We should get them to bed," he instructed. Asriel nodded and followed behind his father as Asgore carried Chara to their bedroom.

He laid the human down on their bed and gently tucked them in under the covers. Toriel looked down at her son and said, "Asriel, I need you to answer me honestly. Do you know what happened?"

Asriel looked at his mother, then back at Chara. Their voice echoed in his brain, "_Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know._"

"I...I don't know," Asriel mumbled.

Toriel sighed and said, "Well, the best we can do for now is to try and help them recover. I do not know much about human diseases or sickness, however."

"We shall do our best to try and help them," Asgore said.

The three Dreemmurrs looked at the human laying in the bed, all worrying about what would happen next.

* * *

"Mmmm."

Asriel was the first to hear it. He jumped up from where he was sitting on his bed and rushed to the human's side. Asgore and Toriel stood from the chairs they had brought in and were immediately at Chara's bedside.

"Chara?" Toriel asked.

Chara slowly opened their red eyes and looked blearily at the three goat monsters. They tried to sit up in the bed, but winced in pain and grabbed their stomach as they did so. All three monsters tried to coax the human to lay back down, but Chara waved them off as they shakily sat up.

"Hey guys," they said weakly before they began to cough. To the monster's horror, Chara coughed up blood and stained their sweater red.

"Oh my!" Toriel exclaimed. She immediately jumped into action and rushed to grab a towel for the human to cough into instead. Asgore grabbed them a new sweater out of the closet to replace the one that they had coughed on. Chara continued to cough into the towel while both Asgore and Toriel helped them change into the new sweater.

"Chara, can you tell me what hurts the most?" Toriel asked once they stopped coughing.

"My stomach," Chara said weakly before lurching over. They began coughing again, more blood coming up.

Toriel turned to her son and said, "Asriel, I want you to go fetch a doctor."

"I don't wanna leave them though!" Asriel exclaimed through his tears.

"Asriel, I am not asking." The serious tone of Toriel's voice was enough to make Asriel shrink back slightly as she said, "Go."

Asriel nodded meekly and ran out of the room to fetch a doctor while Asgore and Toriel hung over Chara. Both goat monsters tried to make the human as comfortable as possible, but Chara just continued to cough up blood and grow more pale.

After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality only half an hour, Asriel ran into the room holding the hand of a monster in a white doctor's coat. The doctor seemed very flustered, but bowed when they saw Asgore and Toriel. "Your majesties," they said as they bowed.

"No time for any of that now," Asgore dismissed. The doctor nodded and stood, trying to assess the situation. "It is our human child," Asgore explained to the doctor. "They have gotten incredibly ill."

"I see," the doctor said, looking at Chara. "Can you explain to me what has happened? Your son tried to explain when he went to fetch me, but I couldn't understand him."

Toriel looked down at Asriel, who had tears streaming down his face, and hugged him tightly. She began to speak with the doctor as Asriel cried into her robes. "We are not quite sure what has happened. Chara and Asriel were in the garden when Chara suddenly collapsed. They began to drool and their eyes were puffed up. Their breath has been very ragged, and when they woke up, they started coughing up blood."

"Hmm, interesting. Do you know if the children were doing anything that would warrant what has been happening?"

Toriel looked down at her son, who was still crying into her robes, and pulled him away slightly. "Asriel, I am going to ask you again," she said, keeping her motherly tone while also still being slightly strict. "Do you know why Chara has become like this?"

"_Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know._"

Asriel looked at Chara, then at his mother, then at the doctor, before finally settling his eyes on the ground. "I don't know," he said, his voice a whisper so quiet the adults could barely hear.

"Alright," the doctor said. "I will need to have you all leave the room for a bit while I try to assess Chara here."

The Dreemurrs all nodded and left the room, hoping the doctor could figure out what had happened.

* * *

The doctor emerged from the room with a grim look on their face. All three Dreemurrs immediately rushed to the doctor and Toriel immediately asked, "How are they doing?"

"Not very well your majesty," the doctor said gravely. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about human diseases. Nobody down here does. I cannot be sure what has happened to Chara. The best we can do is hope that this sickness passes and they recover."

"That's all?!" Asgore exclaimed, trying to contain his rage. "That's all you could do?!"

"I truly am sorry, your majesties. I will come back tomorrow to check on them."

Seeing no other option, Asgore and Toriel nodded, allowing the doctor to leave. Toriel then turned to her husband and asked, "Asgore, what are we going to do?"

"There is nothing we can do," Asgore said. "We will have to do as the doctor said and hope that Chara recovers. Come, we should be with them."

The three monsters then returned to the bedroom, where Chara looked even worse than when they had left. Their skin was sickly pale and their hair stuck to their forehead that was sheened over in sweat. Their sweater had become covered in blood yet again, so Asgore went to fetch them another sweater.

As he and Toriel helped change Chara, they both couldn't help but notice that their hands had begun to swell and blister. The human winced in pain as they were moved to be changed into clean clothes, and they coughed yet again. When they coughed, they spewed blood onto Toriel's white ears. The goat monster ignored this and continued to dress her child, wanting the human to be as comfortable as possible.

Once Chara was dressed, they looked incredibly worn out and Asgore said, "Perhaps we should let them rest for the night."

"Is that what you want Chara?" Toriel asked. Chara nodded weakly and Toriel said, "If that is what you wish. We will stay with you through the night though, alright?"

Chara nodded again and laid back down, closing their eyes. Their face scrunched up in pain as they attempted to go to sleep, and Asgore and Toriel sat in the chairs they had brought in. "Asriel, you should rest," Toriel instructed her son.

"But what if something happens?!" Asriel insisted, the fur on his face matted with tears.

"Alright, you may stay up if you wish. It is going to be a long night."


	22. Promises

Over the next several days, Chara did not get better. They continuously coughed up blood, their hands had begun to swell and blister, and their eyes were red and puffy. The doctor had done routine check ups on the human every day, but had no idea how to help them. The doctor tried to use healing magic, as did Toriel and Asgore, but to no avail. They all knew what was coming, even if they didn't want to accept it.

Chara was dying.

Asgore and Toriel had barely left the human's side as they were ill, only leaving if they were needed for royal duties. They both did their best to make the human as comfortable as possible, and neither of them could stand to see the pain in Chara's face when they coughed up blood.

Asriel never once left the human's side. He had become a mess of tears and sobbing throughout the whole ordeal, but he never left them. His parents had asked him again if he knew what had happened, but Chara's words hung in his head. "_Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom can't know._" Their plan also hung over Asriel like a dark shadow as he watched his sibling suffer. Absorb the soul, cross the Barrier, gather six more from the humans, free everyone. It had sounded so simple when Chara had first told him, but now the plan seemed anything but simple.

After several days, Chara awoke in the middle of the night and began coughing again. Toriel and Asgore were immediately at their side, holding a cloth to their mouth so they didn't cough up blood onto their sweater again. Asriel rushed over to them as well, wondering what he could do to help them. The human had been asleep most of the time they had been ill, their face always contorted in pain. The only time they ever really woke up was to cough up blood or to groan in pain. Toriel had tried to feed them simple meals such as soup or even just broth, but those meals always came back up.

Once Chara's coughing fit ended, they looked up at the three Dreemurrs. "I don't think I'm gonna get better," Chara said, their voice raspy and strained.

"Chara, do not speak like that," Toriel said. "You will get better."

Chara shook their head and asked, "Can I ask you all something?"

"Anything Chara," Asgore said. "What is it?"

"I want to see the golden flowers."

All three Dreemurrs looked at the human in perplexion. Asriel knew why they were saying what they were, but looked perplexed so as to not arouse suspicion from his parents. "Golden flowers?" Toriel asked.

Chara nodded weakly and said, "I want to see the golden flowers from my old town. Can I please see them before I die?"

Asgore and Toriel looked at each other sadly and didn't answer. "We will be right back," Asgore said, beckoning his wife to the door. As the two of them left, Asriel looked at his sibling again. Chara looked at him weakly and gave a half laugh, the laugh being incredibly strained.

"Go with them," Chara instructed.

"Chara?" Asriel asked.

"Go with them. I'll be fine. I won't die yet. You know what to do."

Asriel nodded sadly and left the room. He immediately heard his parents arguing to each other in their bedroom. He cautiously walked over so they wouldn't hear him and listened in on their conversation.

"What are we going to do?" Toriel asked.

"I do not know," Asgore said. "You know as well as I do that there is no way for us to cross the Barrier."

"Chara cannot cross the Barrier on their own either. We cannot even fulfill their dying wish."

"I wish there was a way we could…"

Asriel then accidentally bumped into the doorframe, alerting his parents of his presence. "Asriel, it is rude to spy on people," Toriel said.

"What are we gonna do about Chara?" Asriel asked, ignoring her chastising.

"I do not know my child. We cannot honor their wish, as much as we wish we could."

"Why not?" Asriel asked, playing dumb. The less suspicious he was, the better.

"Asriel, you know that they cannot cross the Barrier on their own," Asgore said. "When they die, they will still be stuck here. There is nothing we can do."

"Your Majesties?" a voice asked from behind Asriel. All three Dremurrs looked to see the doctor standing behind Asriel.

"Pardon me, but I am here to check on the state of Chara," the doctor said.

"Yes, of course," Asgore said, going to the doctor. Toriel and Asriel followed the two of them back to the bedroom. When everyone entered the bedroom, they all gasped at the state of the human.

Despite only leaving Chara alone for a few minutes, the human looked far worse than anyone had seen them. Their breathing had become incredibly shallow and their eyes struggled to remain open. They weakly looked over when the door had opened but couldn't do much beyond that.

The doctor quickly went over and started looking over the human, trying to get an analysis as to how bad they were. After looking over them for a while, the doctor beckoned the rest of the Dreemurrs out of the room.

Once outside, the doctor shook their head and said, "I'm sorry. I don't think they have much time left. I'm afraid that, the next time they try to sleep, they won't wake up.

Asgore and Toriel hung their heads at this news, while Asriel tried his best to not look uncomfortable. Whether he liked it or not, Chara's plan was going to come true sooner rather than later. "I will return tomorrow," the doctor said. "Please, do not hesitate to call if something happens."

The Dremurrs all nodded and the doctor left. "So there is nothing we can do," Toriel said gravely.

Asgore shook his head and voiced exactly what Asriel had been thinking.

"It's only a matter of time."

* * *

For the rest of the day, the family did all they could to make sure Chara stayed awake. They all feared that, when they fell asleep, Chara wouldn't wake up. In the middle of the night, Chara had a particularly violent coughing fit, spraying blood all over themselves. As they coughed, they knocked the old video camera off of their nightstand, but none of the Dreemurrs bothered to pick it up. The red light indicating the camera was filming turned on as Chara finished coughing and closed their eyes.

Toriel and Asgore immediately panicked and tried to wake the human up. Toriel's voice was choked up as she tried to wake the human up by gently shaking them. "Chara, can you hear me?" she asked, trying her best to keep her tears back. "We want you to wake up…"

Toriel could no longer hold her tears back and began to sob as Asgore tried to wake them to. "Chara!" he exclaimed. "You have to stay determined! You can't give up…" He trailed off as he too became incredibly choked up. Before he began to cry with his wife, he choked out, "You are the future of humans and monsters…"

Asriel then accidentally kicked the camera and the red light shut off. He realized that it was time as he sniffled out, "Mom, Dad, can I be alone with Chara? Just one last time?"

Toriel and Asgore looked at each other, then at the sleeping human, then at their son. "Of course Asriel," Toriel said, her voice almost a whisper. "We will be in our room. Tell us if anything happens."

Asriel nodded and the two adults walked out of the room. Asriel walked right up to his sibling and kicked the camera again accidentally, moving it under the bed as the red light came on. "Psst…" Asriel whispered, his voice laced with sobs. "Chara...Please...wake up...I don't like this plan anymore. I...I…"

He wanted to back out. He wanted to say he was too scared to go through with the plan. He wanted to tell Chara this was a bad idea. But he knew it had to be done.

Asriel sniffled and wiped his nose as he said, "...no, I said...I said I'd never doubt you. Six, right? We just have to get six...And we'll do it together, right?"

Chara then let out their final breath, their chest no longer rising and falling. Asriel gasped and tried his hardest not to cry as he saw a bright red Soul float out of Chara's body. The Soul began to shake and start to crack before Asriel reached out and grabbed it.

"Here we go…"


	23. Golden Flowers

Asriel winced as he felt a surge of power go through him the moment he grabbed the red soul. He bit his tongue to not yell out in pain and alert his parents. He felt a powerful magic course through his veins as he absorbed his sibling's Soul. Memories began to flash through the young Boss monster's eyes, but not all of them were his own.

Asriel hunched over in pain as he felt his body begin to change with the magic. He felt his arms and his legs grow as he became visibly taller, growing taller than Toriel. He felt as though someone was beating his head like a drum as two long horns sprouted out of his head. His clothes changed as he morphed as well, his normal green and yellow sweater changing into a long robe similar to what Toriel wore. He still had his heart necklace around his neck, and the charm was over the top of his robes as he let out a breath.

Once he was sure the transformation was done, Asriel shakily stood up, adjusting to his new height. He looked over his newly transformed body and looked at Chara's body laying on their bed. "Six Souls," he said to himself before jumping back slightly. His voice had deepened as well. Once he got over the shock, he said to himself, "We just need to get six Souls."

As Asriel turned to leave the bedroom, he flinched again as he heard a voice in his head say, "_Don't forget my body._"

One of his paws flew to his forehead as Asriel whipped around to see where the voice came from. "Chara?" he asked, knowing that voice belonged to the now deceased human. "I thought you died."

"_I did_," Chara explained. "_When you absorbed my Soul, I think we became one. Now come on, let's go change the world."_

Asriel nodded and bent down to gingerly lift up Chara's body, not wanting to disturb the human. He cradled them close to his chest, finding it strange that he was now bigger than them. When he was still small, he had been less than an inch taller than the human, but now he towered over them. He felt a tear escape his eye and fall onto Chara's body, so he gently wiped it away with a finger.

"_Don't be sentimental,_" Chara chastised from inside Asriel's mind. "_This was how it had to be done. This is the only way you all can be free._"

"I'm sorry Chara," Asriel said as he left the room. He began to walk towards the basement and Asgore's garden, near where the Barrier was, when he heard someone talking. Before he knew what happened, he felt his body jerk in a different direction than he meant to move as he darted into Toriel's study room.

"What the-" he asked before being quieted by the voice in his head.

"_Quiet!"_ Chara exclaimed as Toriel and Asgore walked by. Asriel felt his body dart near a wall so they couldn't see him and he adopted a look of confusion on his face. "_Huh_," Chara remarked. "_I can move your body, but not too much._"

"Weird," Asriel muttered, making sure to keep his voice down.

He then heard the door to Toriel and Asgore's room close before Chara said, "_Move._" Asriel did as his sibling said and began to go down the stairs to the basement. "_That was close_," Chara said. "_We can't let them see us. They'll stop us._"

"But what about after this is done? After we get the Souls?"

"_I'm sure Mr. King Dad and Mrs. Queen Mom will understand. It's for the greater good."_

"Right, the greater good."

Before he knew it, Asriel was at the Barrier. He stared out at the wall that had kept monsters trapped Underground for years before taking a deep breath. "Let's go," he said as he walked through the Barrier. He felt his body tingle slightly as the magical seal allowed him to pass with Chara's body.

Once outside the mountain, Asriel yelled out and covered his eyes with the arm that wasn't carrying his sibling. "What is that bright thing?!" he exclaimed, shielding his eyes from the light.

"_That's the Sun, Asriel,_" Chara commented. "_You need to calm down._"

"A-alright." Asriel uncovered his eyes and squinted slightly as he tried to get used to the natural light. Once he was sure he was used to the light, he said, "Alright, we're past the Barrier. What's next?"

"_We are going to go to my village. It's just below the mountain. Once you're there, there will be a field of golden flowers. Place my body there._"

"Alright, I can do that."

Asriel began the long trek down the mountain, though it did take less time than he anticipated. He figured that the longer legs probably helped him move a lot faster than he normally would have. Once at the bottom of the mountain, Chara began to tell him directions to their village.

Once at the border of the village, Chara said to Asriel, "_The flowers are at the center of the town. Once there, we can take their Souls._"

Asriel felt a sense of something _wrong_ with the way Chara had said that and asked, "But we're only taking six, right?"

"_Asriel, the humans are awful. You have seen my memories, I know you did when you absorbed my Soul. You saw what they did to me. They don't deserve to live!"_

"Chara, this isn't right! We can't just kill them all!"

Chara made Asriel's body move forward and into the town as they continued to speak. "_Asriel, look at all the harm the humans have caused! What they have done to your kind, to me! They don't deserve to live! They must be destroyed!_"

Screams rang out from the human villagers as Asriel approached. Panicked footsteps could be heard as the large Boss Monster walked to the center of town. He heard them all scream at him, demanding him to leave. They all were unsure what to do as Asriel continued forward until he found the golden flower patch at the center of town.

Very carefully, while ignoring the screams of all of the humans, Asriel knelt down and set Chara's body down. Despite all that was happening, all of the humans screaming around him, Chara yelling in his head about the right thing to do, Asriel stared down at his sibling.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way Chara," he said as tears dripped down his face and onto the flowers.

Before Chara could say anything back, Asriel's head turned when they heard a strange sound. He looked behind him and saw a human man standing somewhat close to him aiming a strange looking metallic item at him. He heard the item click as the human aimed at him.

"I don't know what you are, or why you have the body of a child, but you better get out of here!" the human shouted.

"_See?"_ Chara asked from Asriel's mind. "_This is how all humans are. So quick to react and when they don't know what to think, they resort to violence. We need to show them the power of humans and monsters when they work together rather than fight each other!_"

Asriel then felt a surge of magic go to his right hand as a glowing white sword appeared in his hand. "Chara, we can't…" Asriel said, feeling afraid. He had never felt his sibling be this angry before, but looking at this human, he could feel just how Chara truly thought about humans.

They wanted to kill them all.

"_Yes we can! How else did you think we were going to get the Souls?!"_

"But we don't need to kill them all!"

"_Asriel, stop fighting me. I'm taking control now!_"

Before he could react, Asriel could feel himself begin to lose control of his body as his body surged forward, the magical sword ready to pierce the human. "STAY BACK!" the human yelled, aiming the metal item at Asriel's chest.

"Chara, stop!" Asriel yelled, regaining control of his body and stopping mere inches in front of the human.

The human yelled out in fear as Chara said, "_Asriel, you're being ridiculous! We need to act, now! If we don't-_"

Chara didn't manage to get the sentence out as a bullet fired from the gun the human was holding and pierced through Asriel's chest.


	24. Dust

Asriel flinched as the bullet pierced through his chest, but remained standing. "_Asriel, you have been shot!_" Chara exclaimed as more humans gathered near the one who had shot Asriel. Asriel put a paw to where the bullet had hit him and felt dust begin to coat his hands.

"_Asriel, you need to fight back!_" Chara yelled, trying to summon the magical sword again. Asriel resisted and the sword never materialized, and Asriel could feel Chara grow more frustrated. "_Asriel, you have enough power to level this town, but you need to fight back!_"

"I won't!" Asriel yelled back, startling the other humans.

"That monster killed the child!" a human woman screamed from the crowd.

"It's evil!" another human yelled.

"Kill it!" a third human shouted. More gunshots rang out and the bullets pierced through Asriel, making the Boss Monster roar out in pain.

"Why won't it go down?!" the human who had shot first yelled as he fired again.

"_Asriel, fight back!_" Chara screamed. "_If you don't, you'll die! Please, fight back!_"

Asriel shook with pain as he could feel the desperation and anguish that Chara felt for him. "Chara, this isn't right," he said. "We never should have done this. Let's go home. You shouldn't be left here. You should be with us, where you were happy. Come on."

He then bent down into the flowers again, getting seeds stuck to his robes as he picked up his human sibling. The humans continued to shout and yell at him as Asriel stood yet again.

More gunshots were fired and Asriel looked at the humans that were shouting at him.

"Monster!"

"Heathen!"

"Kill it!"

"It killed that child!"

"It doesn't deserve to live!"

"Monster!"

"MONSTER!"

Despite all of the horrible words shouted at him, and the immense pain he felt from all of the bullets, Asriel smiled. He began to walk back towards the mountain, and Chara yelled in his head, "_Where are you going?!_"

"I'm taking us home Chara."

The more and more he walked, the weaker and weaker Asriel began to feel. As he walked up the mountain, he clutched his head, noticing that one of his horns had been shot off as well. He managed to get to the Barrier, stumbling through the magical shield with his sibling's body still in his hands. When he managed to get back to the garden in the throne room, he winced in pain and let out a sharp cry of pain. He then looked up as he heard voices yell out.

"Asriel?!" a familiar voice yelled as Asriel saw Toriel running towards him. Lacking any strength at all, Asriel dropped Chara's body and collapsed into the field of buttercups, struggling to breathe.

"Asriel, what happened?!" Toriel shrieked, clutching her son's body in her arms as he blinked wearily. He saw Asgore standing next to him as well, speechless as he looked first at Chara's body, then at his son.

"Mom, Dad," Asriel said weakly. "I'm sorry."

He rolled his head to the side, looking at his sibling one final time. "I'm so sorry," he said, his voice a bare whisper. As he closed his eyes one last time, he heard a voice in his head.

"_Me too._"

**Happy **_**Undertale **_**anniversary guys! I wanted to get a chapter out for the 5th anniversary today, so here you go! Sorry for the short length of it, but I have plans for the next chapter, and after debating whether or not to make them into one super long chapter or split them into two chapters, I decided to split it.**


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